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— Deals —
But, could a bidding war be on the horizon instead? The park is Myrtle Beach's largest tourist attraction and has licenses with several companies, including restaurant chain Hard Rock Cafe International (USA) Inc. and certain music companies, allowing it to use the likenesses of Led Zeppelin and The Eagles, among others. - Ben Fidler Meanwhile, U.K. leisure company Rank Group plc announced plans Dec. 7, 2006, to sell Hard Rock Cafe International to Florida's Seminole tribe for $965 million, hedging its bets on, among other things, bingo. Despite a lawsuit from losing bidder Cordish Co., alleging collusion and bid rigging, a Rank shareholder vote on the deal was set for Jan. 8, 2007, and the beat went on. The deal won regulatory approval later that month, and writing for The Deal two months later, Liza Gewirtz-Ward dug into the full story behind the deal.
ALL OR NOTHING As it stood in Janauary 2007, Rank would hang onto the Hard Rock's iconic London location, 35 years after what it called two "enterprising and music-loving Americans" had a vision, or so the song goes. ... Rank was sharpening its focus on gaming, a hot segment in both the U.S. and Europe at the time, selling, in addition to Hard Rock, its Pennsylvania-based vacation unit Resorts USA Inc. to management for $32 million, and its Deluxe Media Services business to Optical Disc Service GmbH for $1.7 million. The company's other holdings included Mecca Bingo, which it says is the U.K.'s No. 2 bingo club operator; Top Rank Espana, another bingo outfit in Spain; Grosvenor Casinos, with locations across England and Scotland; and U.K.-based interactive gaming site Blue Square. THE END OF THE SONG The seller, however, wouldn't part with the famed restaurant's original outpost, in London, which opened its doors to rock 'n' roll lovers in 1971 and drew, so it says, "droves of customers with its first-rate, but moderately priced casual American fare." In 1982, the Hard Rock's two founders, Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, began expanding into major U.S. cities, as well as Paris and Berlin. Tigrett sold his holdings to Mecca Leisure, which the Rank Group snatched up in 1990. Rank then expanded its ownership, acquiring Hard Rock America from Morton, for $410 million in 1996, the AP noted, and Hard Rock Canada from owner Nick Bitove, according to the chain's Web site.
The Rank-owned Hard Rock business -- 124 restaurants, as well as hotels, casinos and two concert venues -- went on the block in July 2006 and, according to Reuters, piqued the interest of such bidders as private equity firms Apollo Management LP, Permira, TDR Capital LLP and Pilot Group, the investment outfit of Robert Pittman, an MTV co-founder. The eventual buyer, the Seminole tribe, owns hotels, casinos and resorts in Florida, including two Hard Rocks.
Regardless, the outcome of the auction, Phineas Lambert wrote for The Deal that December, "fell short of some investors' expectations, particularly given the unfavorable exchange rate impact on the sterling value of the deal, which equates to about £490 million." Rank, which publicly aired grievances in 2006 with a smoking ban in Scotland, claiming it hurt business at its bingo halls, said it would return the majority of proceeds from the Hard Rock sale to the investors and use the rest to pay down debt. GETTING THE BLUES Elsewhere, other dealmakers were making music, some with seemingly sweet songs and some hitting sour notes. In July 2006, Live Nation Inc. agreed to pay Ares Management LLC and other private investors $350 million cash for HOB Entertainment Inc., the operator of the House of Blues nightclubs.
In September 2006, Biloxi, Miss.-based Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's parent, Premier Entertainment Biloxi LLC, made its way to bankruptcy court with hopes of collecting $151.6 million in insurance, one year after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. AND THIS WEEK IN ROCK 'N' ROLL ... But setting aside happenings in the M&A world, Hard Rock reminded us that in that same week it was sold, such memorable events shaped the world of rock 'n' roll, including:
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While Hard Rock Cafe International Inc. was sold off nearly two years ago, HRP Myrtle Beach Holdings LLC, the owner of South Carolina rock theme park Hard Rock Park, 
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