Press release: 1997-04-03: GameWorks is coming to Brazil; Sega GameWorks and Grupo Multiplan announce a strategic partnership

This is an unaltered copy of a press release, for use as a primary source on Sega Retro. Please do not edit the contents below. Language: English Original source: The Free Library

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 1997--Sega GameWorks and Grupo Multiplan Tuesday announced that they have teamed up to form a new company that will be the exclusive licensee in Brazil of the GameWorks state-of-the-art, location-based entertainment center concept.

GameWorks, a new entertainment venture inspired by DreamWorks SKG, Sega Enterprises and Universal Studios Inc., will celebrate the grand opening of its premier location, GameWorks Seattle, on March 15. Sega GameWorks and Grupo Multiplan hope to open the first GameWorks in Rio de Janeiro by the end of 1997, and thereafter roll-out GameWorks across Brazil.

The new company will be controlled and managed by Grupo Multiplan and owned in part by Sega GameWorks. Grupo Multiplan is the largest developer and operator of shopping centers in Brazil, including the BarraShopping development in Rio, the largest shopping center in Latin America.

Under the visionary guidance of Steven Spielberg, the GameWorks design team is combining the entertainment industry's best technology and theme-park scale to create a high-energy world for young adults. At GameWorks, visitors can play games together and socialize in an incredibly diverse environment.

"When you bring a new business concept to a foreign country, the first important decision is choosing the right partner," said Skip Paul, chairman and chief executive officer of Sega GameWorks.

"Grupo Multiplan builds and operates the highest quality shopping centers in Brazil in outstanding locations and we are delighted that our new venture with them will be the first GameWorks to open outside of the United States. The vision of Grupo Multiplan management along with their commitment to quality entertainment makes us feel very fortunate to have formed this partnership."

"The Brazilian market is hungry for new entertainment venues," said Jose Isaac Peres, chairman and chief executive officer of Grupo Multiplan.

"We foresaw this trend about 20 years ago, and since that time we developed game and leisure facilities in our shopping centers all over the country. We are proud of being pioneers in this. Gameworks, integrated into shopping complexes or as free-standing sites, is a revolutionary and exciting upgrade in this concept."

GameWorks is the main business of Sega GameWorks L.L.C. Other Sega GameWorks activities include Game Operations, which owns and operates numerous arcade and Sega City locations, and Game Sales, the exclusive distributor of Sega arcade games for North and South America.

The managing members of Sega GameWorks are wholly owned subsidiaries of each of Sega Enterprises, DreamWorks SKG and Universal Studios. Universal Studios is a unit of The Seagram Co. Ltd., a global beverage and entertainment company.

The Grupo Multiplan family of companies is the major developer in the real estate business in Brazil. With 35 years of experience, its portfolio includes the build-out and management of 10 shopping centers in Brazil and Portugal, totaling $3.2 billion in sales in 1996.

Among commercial and residential units, Multiplan has built more than 20 million square feet, plus 7 million square feet in progress. Entertainment (including bowling centers) and a state-of-the-art medical center are other branches of activities.

In the United States, Multiplan's first development is Il Villaggio, a luxury residential condominium on Ocean Drive, at Miami's South Beach. Multiplan is associated in Brazil with Bozano, Simonsen Centros Comercials; Goldman, Sachs & Co., one of the leading financial institutions in the American and world markets; and Brunswick Bowling; and in Portugal with The Sonae Group. -0-

Note: For Sega's past news releases, go to

http://www.businesswire.com/emk/267.htm

CONTACT: Sega GameWorks L.L.C.

Melissa Schumer, 818/509-7383

or

Rogers & Cowan

Kim Sudhalter, 310/201-8866
COPYRIGHT 1997 Business Wire
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1997, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.