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Talk of the bay: Through it all, Casino Royale's owner hopeful

Stop us if you've heard this one. Rich guy buys a casino boat with plans to float it in the gulf off Pinellas County.

By Times Staff
Published September 30, 2007

Through it all, Casino Royale's owner hopeful

Stop us if you've heard this one. Rich guy buys a casino boat with plans to float it in the gulf off Pinellas County. Ship repairs drag on. Bills aren't paid, crew members aren't paid and creditors begin circling. The story of the Casino Royale is making a repeat performance in the Bahamas. The 450-foot ship sailed from Tampa last year after its owners, led by California investor Steve Yamashiro, paid creditors to get it released from court custody. Repairs resumed in Freeport, but so did financial difficulties as some investors bailed out this summer. Owners laid off employees at the Treasure Island office, and crew members left when paychecks stopped coming. Yamashiro is trying to right the ship and still plans to operate it with shuttle boats from John's Pass, a spokeswoman said last week. But nobody's saying how soon.

They're teaming up for venture cap

Three Florida venture capitalists are joining forces to form Sunrock Ventures, a venture capital firm with offices in Tampa and Miami that will invest in businesses throughout the Southeast. "The Southeast comprises approximately 20 percent of the nation's population, economic output and high tech industry, yet it attracted less than 5 percent of the total venture capital investments in 2006," managing director Tate Garrett said in a statement. Garrett is joined by fellow managing partners Matthew Shaw and Jeffrey Wolf. The three managing partners have "significant partner-level roles with established venture capital firms," according to a press release, including Advantage Capital, Berenson Minella Ventures, the Castle Group, Centennial Ventures, Crossbow Ventures, Prime New Ventures and Seed-One Ventures. Combined, the three have invested $140-million. Their targeted fund size for Sunrock is $100-million, which they plan to raise from a group of limited partners.

Speed through tolls in a rental

Travelers no longer have to buy a transponder to wheel their rental cars around the toll booths on the SunPass Only lanes in Central Florida and Tampa Bay area expressways and bridges. Florida's Turnpike Enterprises has signed deals with two vendors who equip rental car fleets with technology that links license plates to the pass system. One, American Traffic Solutions' Plate Pass, provides Avis, Hertz and Budget Rent-a-Car drivers an option of paying $2 to $2.50 a day for a system that adds up tolls and bills them to a credit card. Dollar and Thrifty will follow this month, but already offer Rent A Toll Pass24, which provides unlimited tolls for $5.95 a day or $27.95 a week. Officials are talking with Enterprise, National and Alamo.

Pearlman trustee takes on Rolls dealer

The trustee in the Lou Pearlman bankruptcy case is going after a Longwood Rolls-Royce dealer. Soneet Kapila is demanding that Ultimate Motor Works return a deposit Pearlman put down on a new Rolls and a damaged '84 Rolls the company has kept in storage for Pearlman. Ultimate Motor Works wants storage fees.

[Last modified September 28, 2007, 20:02:51]