Posted September 13, 2013 - 7:15am

Philippines casino removes management led by former Las Vegas Sands executives

By HOWARD STUTZ
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

 

A gaming management team headed by former executives of Las Vegas Sands Corp. was removed as operators of a $1.2 billion hotel-casino complex in the Philippines late Thursday.

Owners of the Solaire Resort & Casino in Entertainment City along Manila Bay told the country’s stock exchange it terminated the services of Global Gaming Asset Management of Las Vegas due to “material breach” of their agreement.

Global Gaming is headed by former Las Vegas Sands President Bill Weidner and other ex-Las Vegas Sands officials. The initial phase of the development opened in April.

In a statement, Bloomberry Resorts Corp., which is headed by Philippines billionaire Enrique Razon, said it terminated the management services agreement with Global Gaming.

“GGAM has not spent any material time in attending to the management of Solaire and has failed to perform its obligations and deliverables under the MSA,” according to the statement.

A Los Angeles public relations firm representing Weidner firm issued a statement late Thursday denying the allegations.

“Bloomberry Resorts Corporation’s assertions regarding GGAM’s performance of its obligations under the Management Services Agreement have no factual or legal validity,” the statement said.

“Bloomberry has materially breached that agreement and GGAM is pursuing its rights under that contract in arbitration in Singapore.”

Global Gaming was recently named to manage the Baha Mar Casino & Hotel, the centerpiece of the $3.5 billion hotel-casino complex in the Bahamas that is scheduled to open in December 2014.
In additon to Weidner, Brad Stone is Global Gaming’s president and Garry Saunders is executive vice president.

The three were involved in the opening and managing The Venetian and Palazzo in Las Vegas and the Venetian Macau, and the development of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore while employed by Las Vegas Sands.

Weidner resigned from Las Vegas Sands in March 2009 following a long-simmering dispute with company Chairman Sheldon Adelson. But one month later the company reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that he had been fired.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/philippines-casino-removes-management-led-former-las-vegas-sands-executives



 

Legends' Bankruptcy Sale Crumbles

Deal to sell casinos falls apart

By Mike Nolan mnolan@southtownstar.com

February 1, 2013

 

The sale of casinos in Louisiana and Mississippi — operated by a company controlled by a Homer Glen man — to an Oklahoma Indian tribe has apparently unraveled, according to court documents.

Legends Gaming had filed for bankruptcy last August and announced it was selling its DiamondJacks casinos in Bossier City, La., and Vicksburg, Miss., to Global Gaming Solutions. At that time, the deal was valued at $125 million.

William McEnery, the former owner of the Gas City chain, is Legends’ chairman, chief executive officer and majority shareholder.

 

Legends’ plan for emerging from bankruptcy hinged on selling substantially all of its assets to Global Gaming, a subsidiary of the Chickasaw Nation.

 

In a bankruptcy court filing on Wednesday in Louisiana, Legends alleges that Global Gaming has breached the terms of the sale agreement, and that Global “has clearly indicated that it has no intention of closing the purchase of the assets.” Legends said that, as a result, it was withdrawing its pending plan for exiting bankruptcy.

 

In a response filed Thursday, Global Gaming insisted it hadn’t violated any terms of the agreement and “has met all of its obligations.” Global said it had been moving forward with getting approval from regulators to take control of the two casinos.

 

McEnery’s Gas City locations were sold following a separate bankruptcy case, and his personal bankruptcy case is continuing in federal court in Chicago.

 

http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/business/17954870-420/deal-to-sell-casinos-falls-apart.html

 

 

Gambling Industry Buying Election

From Bill Kearney --

Massachusetts ‘GAMING’ Future

Atlantic City Press - September 29, 2012 - Casino industry makes its presence felt in politics with large contributions to both parties

This year’s presidential race comes as states are considering ways to legalize online wagers, an issue on which the two candidates have taken different stances.
...

At the same time, political contributions by the casino industry have risen as the industry has grown.

Read more: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/casino-industry-makes-its-presence-felt-in-politics-with-large/article_e3d3c67a-09ce-11e2-95ab-0019bb2963f4.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Casino industry makes its presence felt in politics with large contributions to both parties

 

 

 

Posted: Saturday, September 29, 2012 12:05 am | Updated: 8:28 am, Sat Sep 29, 2012.

Casino industry makes its presence felt in politics with large contributions to both parties By DEREK HARPER, Staff Writer pressofAtlanticCity.com

 

This year’s presidential race comes as states are considering ways to legalize online wagers, an issue on which the two candidates have taken different stances.

At the same time, political contributions by the casino industry have risen as the industry has grown.
Mitt Romney has said he opposes online wagering, while the Obama administration has taken steps that could ultimately clear the way for Internet betting.

But the industry does not seem to be supporting one candidate over the other, said Joseph S. Weinert, senior vice president of Linwood’s Spectrum Gaming Group.

Democrats have received more political contributions this cycle from the casino industry, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Democrats have received $6.4 million from the industry to Republicans’ $5.8 million, according to figures released in early September.
An additional $20.3 million was allocated to political action committees and so-called “Super PACs” that have a greater ability to spend on candidates.

In 1992, the casino industry gave $484,019, according to the center. Of that, 71 percent went to Democrats and 29 percent to Republicans. The center ranked the casino industry 75th most generous out of more than 80 industries.

Twenty years later, the center reported the casino industry has contributed more than $32.5 million, as of early September. Direct contributions still favored Democrats, 52 percent to 48 percent, but the industry’s ranking rose to 15th most generous.

But Weinert said the partisan discrepancy could be because Democrats represent more gambling jurisdictions. Furthermore, Democratic U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has been a major proponent of online gaming, Weinert pointed out.

“The bigger context is the economy,” Weinert said, and support would likely hinge on whose economic proposals seem better.

Roger Gros, publisher of Global Gaming Business Magazine, said, “In general the top guys are pretty clear where they are standing,” starting with Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Casino money “never has been that important,” Gros said, “but when you have Sheldon Adelson, who has a billion dollars to spare, it becomes very important.”

Adelson has been a Republican contributor since the 1990s. He started playing an outsized role in the presidential campaign in January, when he and his wife, Miriam, together donated $10 million to Winning Our Future, a super PAC that supported former candidate Newt Gingrich’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

Adelson has since pledged “limitless” support for Republican nominee Mitt Romney and other Republican candidates, telling Forbes magazine that he did so to stop President Barack Obama’s “socialization” of America and to secure closer ties to Israel.

Obama also offended other Las Vegas casino industry officials, Gros said.

Gros pointed to comments Obama made in 2009 when the president said of federal spending, “You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers’ dime.” At a town-hall meeting the following year, Obama said, “You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.”

Gros said Obama “didn’t really apologize for that in a fashion that the industry would have liked to have seen.”

Officials have been quiet in Atlantic City, the nation’s second-largest gaming jurisdiction. Jon Bombardieri, lobbyist and spokesman for the Casino Association of New Jersey, declined to comment, as did association President Tony Rodio, who heads Tropicana Casino and Resort. Other casino executives also declined comment.

Under Obama, the Justice Department in 2011 interpreted the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 in a way that was seen as friendly to gambling. That interpretation said the law, which previously barred Internet wagers, applied only to sports betting. Since then, New Jersey and a number of other states have sought to host e-wagers.

In a response to an online petition to license and regulate online poker, Brian Deese, a special assistant to Obama for economic policy, wrote in May that Internet wagering is an issue for the states.

He said the Obama administration was concerned about the potential for fraud, money laundering and underage gambling.

Romney has taken different positions on the topic of gambling throughout his political career.

He is a Mormon, who in following the teachings of the faith, does not gamble. But when Romney unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1994, the Boston Globe reported that he supported a proposed casino, saying it was a decision for the community to make.

Running for governor of Massachusetts in 2002, Romney supported closing a $2 billion state budget hole with a taxpaying casino, the Globe reported.

Once in office, Romney proposed raising $300 million to $800 million with video slot machines, but the state Legislature rejected the proposal. The Globe reported he also called on casino operators in Rhode Island and Connecticut to pay $75 million to keep Massachusetts from developing its own casino, but that never came to pass.

Gambling has not been a major issue in the presidential race, but before the Nevada primary in February, Romney told a Las Vegas television station that he generally opposed online gambling opportunities because “Gaming has a social effect on a lot of people.”

He also told KSNV-TV that he opposed online wagers because there is plenty of gambling access currently and that some states use gambling tax proceeds for public purposes, and online gambling would not improve that.

The Republican Party also formally opposes Internet wagering. In this year’s platform, the party said it supported the prohibition of Internet betting and called for the reversal of the federal Justice Department’s gaming-friendly interpretation of the Interstate Wire Act. Casino industry officials said they saw this as Adelson’s influence.


http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/casino-industry-makes-its-presence-felt-in-politics-with-large/article_e3d3c67a-09ce-11e2-95ab-0019bb2963f4.html

Legends Gaming Files 2nd Bankruptcy

Legends Gaming, bankrupt owner of La. and Miss. casinos, to sell to Chickasaw Nation of Okla.

By Associated Press, Published: August 3AP

VICKSBURG, Miss. — The owner of casinos in Vicksburg, Miss., and Bossier City, La., has filed for bankruptcy and plans to sell its casinos to an Oklahoma Indian tribe.

Legends Gaming filed Monday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in Shreveport, La. The company plans to sell its DiamondJacks casinos to Global Gaming Solutions for $125 million, said Kym Koch, a spokeswoman for Global Gaming.

The bankruptcy court and state gaming regulators must approve. Legends has the right under the sale agreement to seek buyers willing to pay more. If multiple bidders emerge, the bankruptcy court could hold an auction.

Global Gaming is owned by the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. The company bought Remington Park Racing and Casino in Oklahoma City in 2010 and bought Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, in 2011. The tribe also owns 13 casinos in Oklahoma’s highly competitive Indian casino market.

Though tribes in Louisiana and Mississippi operate casinos outside the state regulatory structure, officials said Global Gaming would be regulated and taxed just like any other non-Indian casino owner.

“They would be subject to the oversight of the State of Mississippi just like DiamondJacks is (now) and all the tax liabilities would be the same,” Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, told the Vicksburg Post (http://bit.ly/PrWWUg).

Louisiana officials told The Times in Shreveport (http://bit.ly/MD8Trm ) that Global Gaming would face a background investigation like any new casino owner in the state.

In its bankruptcy filing, Legends listed assets between $50 million and $100 million and liabilities between $100 million and $500 million. Moody’s Investors Service said Legends has as much as $163 million in debt due in 2014.

Legends, which also filed for bankruptcy in 2008 said no workers will be laid off and that the casinos will continue to operate as usual.

“Our team members are essential to our future success, and should see no difference in their jobs,” Legends Chairman and CEO William McEnery said in a statement. “We believe that we have found a buyer who will continue DiamondJacks’ commitments to the communities in which we operate as well as to its most valued asset, our team members.”

DiamondJacks is typically last among Bossier City’s five casinos in terms of revenue, according to Louisiana state figures. Mississippi doesn’t release revenue figures for individual casinos, but DiamondJacks has the second-largest number of slot machines among Vicksburg’s four casinos. A fifth Vicksburg casino, Grand Station, closed in March amid its own bankruptcy.

DiamondJacks employs 364 people at its casino and hotel in Vicksburg, according to Mississippi figures. It employs about 650 people in Bossier City, according to Louisiana figures.

Both properties were the first casino in their respective cities when opened by the Isle of Capri. Vicksburg opened in 1993 while Bossier City opened in 1994. Isle of Capri sold the gambling halls to privately-held legends in 2006. Legends first filed bankruptcy in 2008 to lower interest rates on $215 million in borrowed to finance the purchases.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/legends-gaming-bankrupt-owner-of-la-and-miss-casinos-to-sell-to-chickasaw-nation-of-okla/2012/08/03/c5bb1006-ddac-11e1-8ad1-909913931f71_story.html

Criminal case an issue in Kansas casino decision

Criminal case an issue in Kansas casino decision

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A criminal case in Iowa became a complication Wednesday for a Kansas board that will pick a developer for a state-owned casino south of Wichita because misdemeanor charges are pending against two top executives in one of the two rival applicants.

But one of the executives said he and his colleague are ready to step away from their company's Kansas project if they're convicted of misdemeanor campaign finance violations in Iowa, though both men have pleaded not guilty.

The Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board is reviewing competing proposals from Peninsula Gaming, based in Dubuque, Iowa, and Global Gaming Solutions, of Ada, Okla., which is owned by the Chickasaw Nation. Kansas law allows only one casino in the Wichita area, and the review board plans to pick an applicant Dec. 15.

Supporters of Global's proposal suggest the legal problems facing two Peninsula executives in Iowa should disqualify that company. Brent Stevens, its chief executive officer, and Jonathan Swain, its chief operating officer, were charged in October with two misdemeanor counts each of violating Iowa's campaign finance laws.

"We strongly deny any wrongdoing," Stevens told the Kansas review board. "We're looking forward to a positive resolution of this matter. We're looking forward to it very, very soon."

The charges against the two executives involve accusations their company made donations in the name of others to Democratic Iowa Gov. Chet Culver's unsuccessful re-election campaign.

Each executive faces one count of making a contribution in the name of another and one count of failing to disclose a contribution. They're scheduled to go to trial Jan. 5 in Polk County District Court but have asked for a 60-day delay, with their attorney saying he needs more time to take statements and evaluate evidence.

Stevens sought to reassure the review board that even if he and Swain stepped away from the Kansas project because of the case, the company has a "very, very deep bench" that would allow it to complete the project.

"We've succeeded by doing the right thing, time and time again. We operate at the highest level," he said. "It will be built."

Kansas review board members struggled with how the criminal case should affect their decision. One consultant hired by the board said Kansas officials have to consider it in deciding whether Peninsula's project should go forward rather than Global's.

But review board Chairman Matt All said such issues are better left to the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, which will check the background of any successful applicant and regulate the casino.

"We just want to make it fair," All said of the selection process. "We're not qualified to take up those issues."

The rights to the new gambling and the equipment at the casino will be owned by the Kansas Lottery, and the state will receive 22 percent of the revenues.

The criminal case complicates the review board's work because, even if it picks Peninsula, the Racing and Gaming Commission, as the regulator, must sign off after conducting a background check. Consultants hired by the review board have projected that Peninsula's project would generate more revenue because its site is closer to Wichita.

Peninsula wants to build its $260 million project near Mulvane, about 18 miles south of Wichita, while Global Gaming's site for its proposed $280 million complex is near Wellington, another 14 miles to the south. The casino must be in Sumner County because voters in neighboring Sedgwick County, home to Wichita, rejected the idea.

The board's consultants suggested revenues at the Wellington site would be three-quarters or less of the revenues at the Mulvane site. But John Elliott, Global Gaming's CEO, said the analyses were flawed and questioned the assumption that the extra distance from Wichita would make more than a negligible difference.

"We refute the suggestion of a significant difference in revenue," Elliott said. "The issue here is that the distance isn't great."

Elliott didn't mention the criminal case involving Peninsula executives in Iowa, but on Tuesday, the chairman of the Sumner County Commission did in a statement praising Global's proposal, which the commission has endorsed.