Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Microcap & Penny Stocks : RMS TITANIC INC (SOST) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John J. O`Reilly who wrote (139)	3/31/1999 6:54:00 PM
From: Sam Biller	Respond to of 217

March 30, 1999 Stupak buys Titanic stock By Gary Thompson <gary@lasvegassun.com> LAS VEGAS SUN Flamboyant Las Vegas gaming entrepreneur Bob Stupak disclosed Monday he has purchased a stake in RMS Titanic Inc., a publicly held company that exhibits artifacts from the sunken ship. In a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, Stupak reported he'd bought 50,178 shares, or 0.31 percent of the 16.2 million Titanic shares outstanding. The stock, trading under the symbol "SOST," closed at $2.125 a share in over-the-counter trading Monday, indicating Stupak paid around $100,000 for his interest. Stupak, citing SEC disclosure guidelines, declined to comment. But the SEC filing revealed he'd met with Titanic President George Tulloch to discuss "future projects." The SEC filing said Stupak "desires that a direct association with (Titanic) be made and believes that the relationship may be economically beneficial to" Titanic's shareholders. "In anticipation of the development of such relationship," Stupak's filing said, he "hereby discloses his intention of acquiring a significant amount of stock in the future, which may be in excess of 5 percent of the outstanding shares." The filing said artifacts recovered from the Titanic have "such meaningful historic value" that Stupak believes they "should not be subject to sale to the private sector." Instead, he said, the artifacts "should be maintained to honor all those who perished and survived aboard the Titanic and all of their descendants." Stupak said he can "make available to the company a traditionally dignified place to display any artifacts." Stupak is associated with a group that has applied to the Las Vegas Planning Department for permission to build a hotel-casino incorporating a full-scale replica of the Titanic at 526 Park Paseo. The 1,000-room hotel-casino, called "The Boat," would include 30,000 square feet of restaurant and lounge space, 5,000 square feet of conference rooms and 18,000 square feet of retail space. Next to the ship-shaped hotel-casino would be a structure called the "Iceberg Commercial Area." The overall project would be just under 700,000 square feet, and would cost more than $300 million, according to the plans. Stupak's filing said he'd met with Titanic's merchandising representative and had "put into writing an understanding" to acquire Titanic merchandise. Stupak already owns a small hotel called the Titanic Resort located behind his Thunderbird hotel on Las Vegas Boulevard. The New York-based RMS Titanic Inc. exhibits items recovered from the wreck. The only recovered material it sells to the general public is coal. Since 1996, it has sold about 110,000 "units" of coal, or about half of the amount it has recovered. For the nine months ended last Nov. 30, it reported revenue rose to $8.4 million from $2.9 million, while net income jumped 41 percent to $2.9 million. The company has earned "salvor-in-possession" status for the Titanic, giving it the right to salvage the wreck site as long as it maintains a "reasonable presence" at the site through periodic expeditions.