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The Seminole Tribe of Florida is making a big bet on the Hard Rock brand.
The tribe has agreed to pay $965 million to British gambling-and-leisure company Rank Group to buy the Hard Rock business, which includes a chain of 124 Hard Rock Cafes, four Hard Rock Hotels, a pair of Hard Rock Casino Hotels and one of the world's biggest collections of rock 'n' roll memorabilia.
The Indian tribe already owns a license to operate Hard Rock-branded hotels and casinos in Tampa and Hollywood, Fla.
Video: Hard Rock's Seminole event
The deal will not include the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which was sold in May to boutique hotel operator Morgans Hotel Group.
Diversified gaming operation
The tribe said it will transform the businesses into a diversified gaming group, Dow Jones reported.The deal also gives the tribe a major hoard of rock memorabilia. Among the roughly 70,000 items in the Hard Rock collection are one of Madonna's bustiers, Jimi Hendrix's Flying V guitar, high-heeled shoes worn in concert by Elton John, and guitars and other instruments played by many of rock's biggest stars.
The sale, expected to be completed March 5, is the second big casino deal announced this week.
On Monday, Station Casinos (STN, news, msgs) received a $5.15 billion bid from a group led by its management to take the casino private.
"This is a proud moment for the Seminole Tribe of Florida and for all Indian tribes," Mitchell Cypress, the chairman of the elected Tribal Council, said in a statement. "It is also an opportunity for the Seminole Tribe to diversify its business operations and help a very successful company to achieve even greater growth."
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Gaming pioneers
The tribe was the first American Indian group to get into the gambling business when it opened a bingo hall in 1979 in Hollywood, Fla. That led to other casinos on reservations in Florida and sparked the interest of other tribes across the nation.Nearly 3,300 Seminole Indians live on and off reservations throughout Florida.
The first Hard Rock Cafe opened in London in 1971. The franchise has since been spread to 45 countries.
Rank owns about half, and the rest are owned by franchisees.