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Indian Tribe to Take Over Hard Rock Cafe Business
11-Dec-2006
Written by: Jeannine Coppola
Seminoles buy Hard Rock Cafe hotels, casinos, and restaurants.
According to the Boston Globe, the Seminole Indian Tribe of Florida has purchased the Hard Rock Cafe business, including casinos, hotels, and eateries, for $965 million. The tribe's vice chairman, Max Osceola, announced the deal at a news conference, stating, "Our ancestors sold Manhattan for trinkets. Today, with the acquisition of the Hard Rock Cafe, we're going to buy Manhattan back one hamburger at a time."
The Seminoles considered closing the deal a milestone and said they believe that it was the first time an American Indian tribe has purchased a major international corporation. The Native Americans bought the Hard Rock Cafe Enterprise from British company, Rank Group PLC.
The Seminoles, which were the first American tribe to get in the gambling business, had partnered with Hard Rock in several hotel, gambling and entertainment complexes in Tampa and Hollywood. Specialists say the purchase could make the Seminoles an even more important part of the gambling and hospitality industry.
Mitchell Cypress, the chairman of the elected tribal council, exclaimed, "This is a proud moment for the Seminole Tribe of Florida and for all Indian tribes...It is also an opportunity for the Seminole Tribe to diversify its business operations and help a very successful company to achieve even greater growth."
The deal includes 124 Hard Rock Cafes, four hotels, two casino hotels, two live concert venues and stakes in three unbranded hotels. The rock memorabilia collection consists of about 700,000 articles, such as Jimi Hendrix's Flying V guitar, and guitars owned by Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and Chuck Berry. However, the Seminoles could not gain the rights to Hard Rock's Las Vegas casino, which is owned by Morgans Hotel Group.
The Seminoles currently have around 3,300 members living on and off Florida reservations. They all will receive payments from the casinos.
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