Canadian online gambling operator Amaya Gaming has appointed Barclays to consider the takeover bid by Amaya CEO David Baazov.

On Monday, PokerStars parent company Amaya announced it had appointed Barclays Capital Canada to act as its exclusive financial advisor on the proposed C$2.8b bid that Baazov announced last week. Amaya has also engaged Blake, Cassels & Graydon to act as its legal advisor on the deal.

A week ago, Baazov announced plans to mount a takeover bid for the company he oversees (as well as being its single largest shareholder, controlling around 18.6% of outstanding shares). Baazov has said he wants to take the company private less than two years after Amaya paid $4.9b to acquire the privately held Rational Group, the parent of online gambling sites PokerStars and Full Tilt.

Amaya also revealed that four of its senior execs would be joining Baazov’s bid proposal. None of the execs were identified by name, but Amaya did mention that one of these execs was its exec VP for corporate development, a position currently held by Marlon Goldstein, who also serves as Amaya’s general counsel.