Lock up periods
Mims and Gold Strike acq. (828,000 BNGO shares)
From the 9/7/97 8-K -
The Company intends to account for this acquisition as a pooling, assuming that the transaction qualifies; otherwise the transaction will be accounted for as a purchase. If the transaction is treated as a purchase, the Company will value this acquisition at the current fair market value of its issued securities, less a discount for lack of marketability, pursuant to a three-year Company lock-up on the sale of the securities.
The second part of the G/S acq. issued 286,000 additional BNGO shares (from a 10/9/97 press release.) No mention of lock up in press release.
The Harrisons were issued 1,000,000 shares of BNGO for 100% of Darlington Music Company. I believe there is a lock up period, but can't seem to find it among my notes at this time.
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The press release announcing the IGT contract with SC
Published Friday, October 31, 1997, in The State.
State to Count Video-Poker Pots
Computers will monitor S.C. games by '99
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By MICHAEL SPONHOUR
Staff Writer
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A new computer system will tell regulators how big South Carolina's video-poker industry really is and possibly lead to a new tax on the proceeds.
Gambling-equipment giant International Game Technology of Reno, Nev., has been selected for a seven-year, $4.2 million contract to set up a network to record every dollar gambled through the state's estimated 28,000 poker machines.
When fully operational by January 1999, the state will find out if the $1.4 billion in poker gambling reported by the industry is accurate. State Department of Revenue Executive Director Burnet R. Maybank III has predicted the true amount of gambling will be much higher. The state now has no way to verify the gambling figures, which are reported quarterly.
"This is going to go a long way toward solving the mystery," Maybank said.
Higher license fees on poker machines will be used to pay for the new system.
This year, the General Assembly increased the two-year license charge on each machine from $3,000 to $4,000. Of that, $400 will go for the computer network.
Monitoring is considered essential to any potential new tax on poker. Among the eight states that allow video poker, South Carolina is the only one that doesn't take a portion of the money played beyond the licensing fees.
Some lawmakers, including House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, have said they expect such a tax to be enacted next year. Many industry insiders consider the levy inevitable.
The system will put more teeth into the state's loose poker regulations. Because all payouts are recorded, any that exceed the $125-per-player daily limit will show up.
It will also help enforce new rules. Starting July 1, each machine will have to return 80 percent of the money played as winnings. There is currently no minimum payout requirement in South Carolina.
Elizabeth Moseley, president of the South Carolina Coin Operators Association, said the industry can accept the monitoring program. However, the $4.2 million price tag sounds too high, she said.
"I don't think it will cause problems for the industry," she said. "We favor it so that everyone and everything is accountable."
IGT was selected by state procurement officials over Transaction Systems International of Charlotte and Columbia firms NAI Corp. and IKON Solutions. Those companies have until Nov. 12 to object to the contract.
The computer network threatens to flood the Revenue Department with data. The agency will need more staffers to compare gambling reports from 8,000 poker sites with the corporate income-tax returns filed by those operators. The system will record all the money played, the winnings and will note when a machine is opened or turned of.
"Waves and droves and oceans of information will flow into those machines," Maybank said.
This is the second attempt to set up a poker-monitoring system. The state collected a one-time $500 fee from license holders in 1993 to set up a network. But initial estimates were that the system would cost $30 million. That forced a delay, and the $8 million collected was put into the state general fund.
The high cost of that project was a result of the requirement that the system accommodate older poker machines that don't have internal computer chips needed to link with the outside network, Maybank said. State rules will eventually prohibit those older machines.
IGT is no stranger to South Carolina. The company teamed with Hollywood Casino Corp. to push a 1994 bill that would have legalized six dockside casinos. Despite spending more than $150,000 on a phalanx of lobbyists, the bill died.
The system will work like this: A "cluster controller" at each video-poker location will collect data from each machine every six seconds. Once or twice a day, a central computer in Columbia will call every cluster controller in South Carolina and download the information.
Hope everyone has a great holiday!
MT |
