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The LA Times reports that Full Tilt Poker, the former online poker giant that was closed to U.S. players in mid-April and to the rest of the world just a few days ago, is scheduled to be purchased by European investors. The deal would allow the embattled poker site to pay back $150 million of the money it owes to U.S. players.

On April 15, federal investigators shut down the U.S. operations of PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker/UB Poker, the three largest poker sites in the world. The sites were charged with money laundering, bank fraud and violation of gambling laws. Absolute/UB and PokerStars continue to conduct international operations.

Since the day that the online poker community will forever refer to as “Black Friday,” PokerStars has paid back over $120 million to U.S. players. Absolute/UB and Full Tilt have paid back none, which has inspired anger on the part of both players and the sites’ current and former sponsored pros. The news of a buyout should offer hope to those still waiting on a withdrawal request.
According to Full Tilt’s attorneys, the company entered into an agreement on the final day of June with the aforementioned investors. The deal would give the investors a majority stake in Pocket Kings, the Irish parent company of Full Tilt. Full Tilt, meanwhile, would receive enough money to pay off players.

As a result, Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey has said that he’ll be dropping the lawsuit he previously filed against his sponsor. Ivey skipped the World Series of Poker and sued Full Tilt as showings of solidarity with players. His lawyer David Chesnoff stated that Ivey now feels that the company is taking real steps towards paying back players.

Unfortunately for Full Tilt, there’s no word yet on what the buy-in would mean for its pending charges with the feds. The U.S. government is currently seeking a total of $3 billion from Absolute/UB, PokerStars and Full Tilt.