Indian Tribe Buys Hard Rock Chain

Just what the Native Americans need - more casinos:

"Our ancestors sold Manhattan for trinkets. Today with the acquisition of the Hard Rock cafes we're going to buy Manhattan back one hamburger at a time," Max Osceola, Seminole Tribe representative, said at a press conference at Manhattan's Times Square Hard Rock Cafe location.

The president of the tribe's gaming operations, Jim Allen, said it beat out some 70 bidders for the Hard Rock franchise.

"This was a step into the real world to play with the big boys," said Allen, who proposed the acquisition to Seminole members.

The Seminole tribe has about 3,000 members and employs 7,000 workers in its gaming unit. The Native American tribe already owns and operates two Hard Rock hotel-casinos and five other casinos, all in Florida.

Hard Rock's worldwide portfolio includes 124 Hard Rock Cafes, four Hard Rock Hotels, two Hard Rock Casino Hotels, two Hard Rock Live concert venues and equity stakes in three unbranded hotels. Hard Rock generated $127 million in revenues for fiscal year 2006.

The sale price was reportedly $965 million and a small bag of colored beads.