Global Casinos Inc

• Nathan Katz, an executive in Trump’s casino business for five years, struck out on his own to form a company called Global Casinos Inc. that would invest in small casinos throughout the former Soviet Union. “Global Casinos Inc. says it is positioning itself to become a leader in the management of small casinos in the U.S., the Caribbean and throughout the former Soviet republics. The Dallas-based developer of casinos in hotels, restaurants and other establishments owned by others expects to post a profit in the fiscal year ending June 30, largely because of the opening in January of its first casino in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia. The company plans to spend $7 million to $10 million opening eight other casinos in 1994. By developing small casinos in other people's buildings, the company's initial investment amounts to $500,000 to $1 million per casino, said Nathan Katz, president and chief executive. That compares with investments of $15 million to $100 million per casino for riverboat casinos in the U.S. […] Katz began seeking such opportunities last year, his latest exploit in a 29-year career in the casino industry. Most recently, he served five years as vice president of developer Donald Trump's Trump Plaza and Trump Castle casinos in Atlantic City.” (Chicago Tribune, May 9, 1994)
• Global Casinos announced that it was pursuing casino projects in Russia (Sochi, Tumen, and Tobosk), Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek), and Belarus (Minsk). “Global Casinos has assembled a stable of projects. In addition to the Sochi casino, which is in a Radisson Hotel, the company hopes to open others by year-end in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Minsk, Belarus; and Tumen and Tobolsk, Russia. Global Casinos also owns a non-operating casino and restaurant in Central City, Colo., and hopes to conclude the purchase of gambling halls in Deadwood, S.D., and Black Hawk, Colo. The company recently agreed to acquire for $1.5 million a 66 percent stake in a new casino on the Caribbean Island of Aruba. This casino also is in a hotel operated by Radisson. ‘I think that is going to be a terrific property,’ Katz said of the Aruba casino. ‘It's perfectly sized for Global's strategy.’ The 8,500-square-foot facility has 178 slot machines and 17 table games, and the casinos Global plans to open in the former Soviet Union will have 10 to 25 tables and 50 to 100 slot machines, Katz said.” (Chicago Tribune, May 9, 1994)
• Global Casinos was established by another publicly-traded company named Morgo, which had previously specilaized in producing chemicals for lawn-care and ice-melting. “Global Casinos says its casino partnerships give it an advantage by helping reduce investments and by cutting possible losses if the casinos need to be closed as a result of political upheavals or prohibitive regulation. The company teams up with local governments and businesses that provide facilities for the casinos in return for a cut of the profits. Global Casinos doesn't have much of a track record, though. The company brought itself public last fall by merging with Morgro Chemicals Inc. of Salt Lake City. The management of Morgro, a small maker of lawn-care and ice-melting chemicals, bought itself out of the merger last month.” (Chicago Tribune, May 9, 1994)