To: Janice Shell who wrote (4409 ) 10/11/1999 1:27:00 AM From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 7056
Re: Bloomberg finds yet another ailing company backed by a mysterious trust from the Phoenix, AZ area. ===== Ailing Las Vegas Entertainment Offers to Buy Jackpot Los Angeles, Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Las Vegas Entertainment Network Inc., an unprofitable company with no revenue, offered to buy Jackpot Enterprises Inc. for $95 million in cash. The unsolicited $11-a-share bid, disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, is a 28 percent premium to Jackpot's closing price yesterday. Jackpot stock rose 1 3/16 to 9 13/16. Las Vegas Entertainment rose 1 9/16 to 5 3/16. It soared as high as 9 1/8, a 52-week high, as 1.587 million shares traded, 30 times the three-month daily average. Los Angeles-based Las Vegas Entertainment's financial condition makes it an unlikely suitor for a company that earned $4.6 million in its latest fiscal year. Las Vegas Entertainment lost $47.5 million since it was founded in 1990, including $5.28 million in the first nine months of fiscal 1999. As of July 31, it had $177,619 in the bank, with monthly expenses of $50,000 to $75,000. Current liabilities of $792,066 exceeded current assets of $197,596, according to SEC documents. The company warned on Sept. 24 that its continuing losses ``raise substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern.' Las Vegas Entertainment told the SEC it would finance the Jackpot acquisition with $190 million it expects to receive from an agreement to sell 12.2 million shares at $15.58 each to Fred Cruz, president of Countryland Wellness Resorts Inc. in Las Vegas. Cruz, whose company is based in his eight-room home, wasn't immediately available for comment. Financial Backing It said Cruz's commitment is backed by a $400 million guarantee from an Arizona company, U.S. Guarantee Corp. The non- profit affiliate of the company, at the same address with the same name, was dissolved on March 19 after it issued a bad check, said David Adams of the Arizona Securities Division. Both entities share a Web site, which says that U.S. Guarantee's mission is to ``administer aid on a worldwide scale to any group in need of assistance.' Telephone messages left for Las Vegas Entertainment executives weren't returned. The company issued a statement late Friday saying that Guarantee hasn't been dissolved. Some have confused Guarantee with a nonprofit corporation of the same name, which was dissolved, Las Vegas Entertainment said. Jackpot said its board would study the offer. The Las Vegas-based company operates about 4,000 gambling machines in Nevada and had sales of $95.7 million in fiscal 1999. Jackpot said last month it would hire an investment banker to evaluate its alternatives. quote.bloomberg.com