By Al Edwards
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Local entrepreneurs Joey Issa and Pradeep Vaswani have opened a new gaming facility including a casino located in the recently, constructed RIU Aruba Grand.
Vaswani and Issa have created an equal joint venture called "Cool Bets" as they make a foray into the lucrative gaming industry in the Caribbean.
Joey Issa, the former executive vice-president of hotel chain SuperClubs is now the lead principal of Cool Corp, a Jamaican brand whose businesses includes gas stations, phone cards, ATM machines and now gaming. Two years ago Cool Corp teamed up with Neal & Massy to acquire Shell's interests in Jamaica. Cool Corp now operates some 80 gas stations throughout Jamaica.
Pradeep Vaswani heads Punters Paradise Ltd which has interests in the gaming industry in Jamaica. He has long been an advocate of a more sophisticated and well-organised industry, which also offers international gaming to Jamaicans. His younger brother Balram Vaswani is the CEO of 24-hour cable news channel, Jamaica News Network (JNN).
At this point in time it is not clear how much was invested in this project but Sunday Finance understands that Cool Bets funded it by way of equity and debt.
Cool Bets has appointed a director for Gaming Development, with Kenneth Morris (33 years of experience in the industry) coming in as casino director (Aruba). He will oversee a staff complement of 99 with all but two being Arubans.
One of Cool Corp's senior executives Andrew Grant together with Marc Charley will spearhead the oversight management team for this division. CEO of Capital Solutions William Massias played a part in this new gaming venture in Aruba, but at this time it is not clear what exactly is his involvement in this operation.
Over the last five years, the Spanish chain RIU Hotels and Resorts has deepened its presence in the Caribbean. It now enjoys a presence in Jamaica, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico and now Aruba.
RIU has been part of a US$1.5-billion Spanish investment in Jamaica over the last five years and already has three hotels there with another currently under construction. |
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