Rank Group said today it had agreed to sell its Hard Rock cafe and casino business to the Seminole tribe of Florida for $965 million (€723.87 million).
Seminole Gaming Chief Executive Jim Allen said the group intended to expand the hotel and cafe business through key cities around the world, and would expand Hard Rock casinos internationally, but not in Britain.
Seminole Gaming's Mr Allen said gaming was the main revenue earner for the tribe, which also produces citrus, cattle and tobacco.
Hard Rock's portfolio includes 124 Hard Rock Cafes, four Hard Rock hotels, two Hard Rock casino-hotels, two Hard Rock Live! concert venues and equity stakes in three unbranded hotels.
Rank said the disposal would turn it into a pure gaming group, focusing on casino liberalisation from next year.
Following the sale it intends to return £350 million to shareholders by way of a special dividend, equivalent to 65 pence a share.
Rank has shed household names like Butlins holiday camps, Odeon cinemas and Pinewood film studios in a drive to get rid of its image as an old-fashioned conglomerate.