UK-listed betting operators William Hill and GVC Holdings are reportedly in the hunt to acquire Canada’s Amaya Gaming, while Amaya’s former CEO David Baazov is out of the running.

On Friday, Reuters reported that Hills and GVC had expressed ‘strong interest’ in acquiring Amaya, the parent company of online poker giant PokerStars. Reuters said some private equity firms were also making serious efforts to add Amaya to their respective holdings.

Meanwhile, ex-CEO Baazov has reportedly abandoned his efforts to acquire Amaya and take the company private. Reuters’ sources claimed that the rival bids were higher than Baazov’s offer of C$21 per share. Amaya’s shares rose over 9% to an 11-month high of C$23.41 following the report before trading was halted.

Baazov’s offer was non-binding and he was said to be delaying a formal bid until he resolved the insider trading criminal charges filed against him by Quebec’s securities regulator. Baazov resigned as Amaya’s CEO in August but remains a major shareholder in the compay.