|
PokerPages > Poker News > Poker News
Poker News - Poker News
Search News:
Seminoles Sued over Hard Rock Casinos Buyout, a Poker Bad Beat?Wed, Jan 3rd, 2007 @ 12:00am Cordish Co., a Baltimore-based company who previously developed Hard Rock cafes with the Seminole Tribe, has sued Rank Group's Hard Rock Cafe International Inc. and the Seminole Tribe of Florida claiming the two companies colluded to leave it out of the recent bidding for the Hard Rock properties, which was awarded to the Seminole Tribe. Cordish has also sued Merrill Lynch for at least $75 million, alleging the Wall Street investment bank acted wrongly as a result of pressure from the Seminole Tribe, denying Cordish access to paperwork to complete their due diligence to reach a competitive bid price. The suit also suggests Merrill Lynch's relationship with the tribe may have given the Seminoles a leg up over other bidders for Hard Rock International, which they are buying for $965 million, noting reports that securities analysts were disappointed with the Rank Group purchase price. The Cordish Co. and its affiliate, Power Plant Entertainment, filed a lawsuit in circuit court in Broward County, Florida, challenging the planned $965 million purchase of the International Hard Rock brand by the Seminole Tribe through its subsidiary, Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment Inc., announced on Dec. 7. Officials with Cordish said they filed the lawsuit Dec. 30. The lawsuit says both Hard Rock and the Seminole Tribe "participated in collusion and bid rigging with respect to offers to purchase Hard Rock from" the Rank Group, the London-based company which owns the Hard Rock assets. Cordish officials said they were precluded from bidding for Hard Rock by the company "artificially fixing a value and price ... by eliminating, reducing or interfering with competition," a release said. In a response Tuesday, Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment said the lawsuit is part of a pattern of Cordish obstructing its successful enterprises and those of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. "It arises out of the Tribe's ongoing litigation with the Cordish and Power Plant Entertainment companies. The lawsuit has no merit," said the tribe's spokesman Gary Bitner in an e-mail. "The Tribe was awarded the right to buy Hard Rock International after a lengthy and open bidding process which included Permira, TDR Capital and Apollo Management. In a simple statement, this is just David Cordish being a sore loser," the prepared statement said. The Seminole tribe had sued Cordish in May, seeking to break their partnership on prior Hard Rock properties. But Cordish said it was never allowed to receive bid documents from Merrill Lynch, which was representing Rank in the process, according to the lawsuit. It claimed that Cordish executives were never allowed to access specific documents necessary to complete their due diligence of the Hard Rock chain, and if they had, company officials said they would've outbid the Seminole Tribe for the assets, the release said. Cordish tried to obtain bid materials twice between Sept. 1 and Sept. 7, according to the press release, but were told both times by Merrill Lynch not to provide documents to the company and that Rank would not consider a bid from Cordish. The lawsuit charges that Rank and the Seminole Tribe violated Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, and is seeking unspecified financial damages, Cordish said in its release. Shareholders for the publicly held Rank Group are expected to vote on the Hard Rock sale to the Seminole Tribe Jan. 8. Read Related Articles:
More Poker News Articles
Moon and Cada Heads-Up, Ivey 7th at WSOP Main Event Final Table After a marathon session at the most esteemed table in the poker world, a 21-year-old and a logger are set to go one-on-one for the World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet.
PokerStars Launches New UK and Ireland Poker Tour PokerStars.com has announced the start of a new poker tour with stops throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. The UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) will kick off in Galway, Ireland in mid-December, and the first event in the UK will be held in Manchester in February.
Peerless Media Agrees to Purchase World Poker Tour Enterprises According to a Monday press release, WPT Enterprises Inc., mothership of the World Poker Tour, is now the rightful property of Peerless Media, Ltd., subsidiary of online giant PartyGaming.
Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho Hit the Amazing Race Rail After surviving six legs of the Amazing Race by the skin of their teeth, poker pros Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho were finally eliminated in the CBS reality show's most recently aired episode. Michelle and Ho, the last women standing in the 2008 and 2007 World Series of Poker Main Events, gave reality television fans another chance to watch poker personalities compete away from the felt. Annie Duke garnered quite a following earlier in the year on another reality show competition, NBC's Celebrity Apprentice.
Isaac Baron Dominates Caesars Classic Main Event Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron ran over the final table of the Caesars Palace Classic $5,000 Main Event, amassing a huge chip lead and going home with the $246,928 first prize. It took two long days to narrow the 162-person field to the final ten. A very high percentage of the entrants were recognizable tournament circuit players, and unsurprisingly, the stacked field produced a tough final table lineup.
Tonight- ESPN shows Day Before WSOP Main Event Final Nine are Set- Oct 27 Tonight (Oct. 27) at 9pm ET, ESPN will broadcast highlights of action on the day before the Final Table of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event was set. Only 27 players remain when this one-hour show begins.
Frenchman Wins PokerStars EPT Warsaw Poker Tourney At the PokerStars European Poker Tour Warsaw No Limit Texas Hold'em main event that wrapped up yesterday, French businessman Christophe Benzimra finished first taking home 358,644 Euros in prize money, while Italian poker pro Alfio Battisti finished second in the tournament.
Vedes Conquers WPT Festa al Lago Final Table Tommy Vedes is the WPT's newest champion! Vedes outlasted 274 players to win the Festa al Lago title and the $1,218,225 first prize. Freddy Deeb, who began the final table with the chip lead, hoped to win his third WPT title and tie Gus Hansen's record. Instead, Deeb was forced to settle for 4th place, leaving room for a new WPT champ. Click here for in-depth coverage of the action and photos from the final table.
Will Hungarians Get Taxed on Poker Soon? Hungarian lawmakers have plans to tax poker winnings and regulate clubs to generate much-needed revenues during the country's worst economic crisis since the end of communism, reports Germany's Deutsche Weele.
Freddy Deeb Leads World Poker Tour Final Table The WPT Festa al Lago Main Event is down to the final six after five tough days of play. Two-time WPT champion Freddy Deeb brings the chip lead along with the benefit of his under-the-lights experience into Monday's televised final table. Deeb previously won the WPT Season III Aruba Poker Classic and the Season VII Celebrity Invitational. He also owns two World Series bracelets and has amassed over $6 million in tournament winnings. A win on Monday would add $1,218,225 to that total. Click here for photos from the felt and final table chip counts. |
 Online Poker »
Poker News »
Blog Coverage
Top News
Moon and Cada Heads-Up, Ivey 7th at WSOP...
PokerStars Launches New UK and Ireland... Peerless Media Agrees to Purchase World... Top Tournaments
|
Discuss this article in our forum
Print this article
All Poker and free play poker content ©2009 Advanced Global Applications, LLC. All rights reserved.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, visit either: National Council on Problem Gambling or Gamblers Anonymous International Service