The Seminole Tribe in Florida and the Baltimore-based Cordish Company that built the Hard Rock casino hotels in Tampa and Hollywood have long been battling through the courts. Claims and counter-claims have been filed, including one by Donald Trump who claims that Cordish and others stole his idea of building a Seminole casino. At stake are the immensely lucrative profits generated by the Hard Rock casinos, expected to reach over US$17 billion in the 10 to 15 years of the original agreements.

The latest lawsuit, filed by Cordish, accuses the Seminole Tribe of a bid-rigging scheme before its purchase of the Hard Rock Café properties was announced. Filed at the end of last week in Broward County, Florida, the lawsuit does not name Rank Group as a defendant. When Rank announced the sale of its Hard Rock properties on 7 December, some financial analysts declared the deal was undervalued and that Rank could have made up to US$100 million more.

Cordish claims that it would have paid more than the agreed price but that when it tried to enter the bidding process it was blocked by a secret deal with the Seminole Tribe. This, the company says, was to the detriment of shareholders and other potential bidders. According to documentation attached to the lawsuit, Cordish and affiliated Power Plant Entertainment tried to purchase Hard Rock in August 2005 but was told by Rank executives that it was not for sale. Several months later Rank announced it would seek outside bidders for the sale.

Hamish Dodds, president of Hard Rock Café International USA, is named in the lawsuit as having worked to derail the Cordish bid in return for a position in the new Seminole company, Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment. The Tribe has issued a statement describing the new lawsuit as having no merit and that it was awarded the right to buy Hard Rock after an open and lengthy bidding process. The lawsuit seeks triple damages and, if successful, would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Rank shareholders will vote on whether to ratify the Hard Rock sale next Monday. (E-01.03.07)

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