Would-be Pirate Bay buyer ousted from stock market

Aktietorget said Global Gaming Factory X AB breached its transparency principles by saying the financing of The Pirate Bay acquisition was secured, that the company had received two informal takeover offers and that it was in final negotiations with copyright owners about content for the site.

In fact, the money hadn't yet been raised, the takeover offers couldn't be verified and negotiations with the music industry were at an early stage, the market place said.

GGF said in June it planned to buy The Pirate Bay domain name and related Web sites for 60 million kronor ($8.5 million) and transform it into a legal online hub for sharing music and films.

However, it hasn't presented the group of investors it claims will help finance the acquisition and Gunther Marder, head of the Swedish Shareholders' Association said he doubts the acquisition will go through.

"It is impossible to say what has been true and what has been a lie," Marder said. "This entire affair has been lined with clumsy statements and doubtful claims. ... Everything seemed shady from the start."

GGF chief executive Hans Pandeya has acknowledged he made a mistake when he sent out press releases with unconfirmed information, but he has dismissed claims that he lied.

On Wednesday he told The Associated Press that he intends to go ahead with acquisition and will pay out of his own pockets if the unidentified investors pull out. He called Aktietorget officials "incredibly scared" and "very weak people."

The Pirate Bay is one of the world's largest file-sharing venues with more than 20 million users globally. In April, four men connected with the site were sentenced to one-year prison terms for abetting violations of copyright law and ordered to pay a fine of 30 million kronor ($3.9 million).

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