MT: Thanks for the info. Again, I presume "lock-up" means Mims and Harrison can't sell any shares at all until the three years are up.
Regarding the contract to hook all SC VGMs to Dept. of Revenue, the contract award was challenged by one of the losing bidders. Note the following:
"STATE REPORT - News from around South Carolina
Published Friday, November 14, 1997, in The State.
Objection could delay video poker monitoring
Installation of a video poker monitoring system could be delayed after a company objected that the state had awarded the contract to a Nevada firm.
Last month, the state selected IGDreamport for a seven-year, $4.2 million contract to install a network to dollars gambled in the state's 30,000 video poker machines. The system is supposed to be set up by 1999.
However, NAI Corp. of Columbia asked Wednesday that it be given the contract instead. The company cites a 1994 temporary restraining order that it says prohibits Reno, Nev.-based International Game Technology from selling any equipment in South Carolina to someone other than a company owned by poker magnate Fred Collins.
IGDreamport is a joint venture between IGT and Dreamport. The order was filed in an Horry County case.
Procurement officials will first consider the appeal, which could later be heard by a state panel.
I have no idea what the status of this contract challenge is at the moment. It all became irrelevant with the political and legal efforts to ban the industry entirely. Now that video poker has survived the legislative challenge, if they also survive the legal challenge, this will be an issue worth revisiting. In any case, the state will not be able to enforce this hook-up requirement until this appeal is resolved. If the appeal drags on for any length of time, the state will be forced to move back the original Jan., 1999 deadline.
TKA |
