Obituary:JoaquínFranco
ownassistedbyasmallworkforce.By Thebiggestadvance minutes’taxi-ridefromtheInternational
1970,thebrothershadasmallfactoryas forRecreativos Airportinanareawhichhasnow
wellasamoderate-sizedoperation.They Francocamewhen spawnedacropofothercoinmachine
additionallybegantoimportUSpinball Spanishdictator companies.Severalofthesecompanies
machinesfromWilliamsandGottlieb, Franco(norelation) arepart-ownedbytheFrancobrothers,or
althoughtheimportdutymadethem diedin1975.Manyof partnerswiththegroup;someare
expensivetobuy,whichmerelyadded therestrictions suppliersofcomponents,whichR.Franco
impetustotheirownambitionsto imposedduringhis doesnotmakeitself.
manufacturepinball. reignwereeasedand
amongthemwerethe Thecompany’smoveintocasinoslot
Takingthedesignonastagefurther,they gamblinglaws.A machinescameasearlyas1982,when
begantobuildbingotables,whichthey periodof‘boomand JoaquínandJesúsfirstrecognisedthe
soldandoperatedinSpain,aswellasto bust’fortheSpanish potentialoftheSouthAmericanmarket
othercountries–wellinadvanceof coinmachineindustry andbegantomakeslotsforColombia.
Belgiumbecomingthehotbedofbingo wastofollow. However,thetransitionintothewider
tablemanufactureinEurope. casinoslotsmarketdidnotcomeuntil
1996.Theydid,howeverexpandtheir
ThebiggestadvanceforRecreativos operatingexpertiseintothecasinosector,
FrancocamewhenSpanishdictator openingacasinooftheirownin1978,
Franco(norelation)diedin1975.Many theCasinoBahíadeCádiz.
oftherestrictionsimposedduringhis
reignwereeasedandamongthemwere Worthyofespecialmentionisthe
thegamblinglaws.Aperiodof‘boomand investmentinbingosinSpain,Mexico,
bust’fortheSpanishcoinmachine andArgentinaandalsoinanumberof
industrywastofollow. casinosinSpainandabroad.Besides
CasinoBahíadeCádizandGranCasino
Thosewithalongmemoryinthe deMurciainSpain,inauguratedin
internationalcoinmachineindustrywill October1997,thecompanyalsoopened
rememberthelate1970sandearly1980s fourcasinosinPanama.
whentheSpanishAWPbusiness
successivelyopenedandclosedwitheach Oneofthemostprominentdecisionsthe
changeofgovernment.Whenitwas Francobrothersmadeinthesphereof
open,dynastieswereborn,huge operations,wastheformationofthe
operationsandamassivemanufacturing internationaloperatingcompany,Codere,
capacitywasopenedup.Butbadpress, in1980,inwhichJoaquínandJesús
sooftentheenemyofthecoinmachine joinedwiththeMartinezSampedro
industry,persuadedgovernmentstoclose family.TheFrancobrotherscontinuedto
downthebusiness,oftenthrowingas bemembersofCodereuntil2006,when
manyas30,000workersoutofjobs. theysoldtheirsharesinthegroupto
Itwasonlyin1962thatJoaquín’sbrother, concentrateongamedevelopment.
Jesús,joinedtheventure.Atthetimehe However,whenitwasopen,theindustry However,whiletheMartínezSampedro
wasenrolledinhiscompulsoryarmy thrivedandthekeytosurvivalwasto family,whichhadcontrolled71percent
service,basedinGermany,whenbrother makeitthroughthedowntimes.The ofCodere’scapital,soughttoacquirein
Joaquín'spartnercalledtolayouttheir newly-formedRecreativosFrancowasone RecreativosFranco’s39.5percentstake
plansforthebusiness.Arrivinghome ofthecompaniesthatsurvivedthose inCoderefor€391m,thepaymentwas
laterthatyear,thedecisionwastakento earlyyears,gaininghugeandvaluable notcompletedwithintheperiodprovided
setupthepartnershipandbecomefull- experienceintheslotmachinebusiness forin2006.Theoutcomeofthisdelay
timeoperators.Itwasamajor intheprocess,anexperiencewhichwas playedoutearlierthisyear,asJesusand
undertaking,andagain,Joaquíndidnot toformthefoundationsofthecompany’s Joaquinwereobligatedtoexecutethe
wanttoventureforthuntilJesúswas successinmorestableyears,whichwere optiontodemandMartínezSampedroto
convincedtobacktheprojectandtodoit tocome. sellthefamily’sparticipationinthestock
together. markettosettlethedebt.
“Weheardveryearlythatpayout
Inashorttime,theotherparticipantsin machineswouldbepermittedafterthe Asaresult,eachofthebrothersreceived
theventureleftthebusinessanditwas dictator’sdeath,”saidtheelderofthe titlestoCodere,representing1.81percent
thetwoFrancobrotherswhotookitto brothers.“Irememberedthoseslotsinthe ofitscapitalandvaluedatmarketprices
thenextstageinthecompany’s USAirForcebaseandtheirpopularity onJuly29,2009at€5.63bn.Many
development.Thereweremany andJesúsandImovedquicklyto believedthatJoaquín,whohadbeen
milestonesforthebrothersfromToledo establishourselvesinthenewmarket.” fightingcancerforseveralyears,hadbeen
afterthat.Theoriginal20-gameoperation determinedtoseethismatterresolvedto
grewandthetwobrothersbegantosee Theymovedoutoftheirsmallfactory ensurethefutureofhisbusinessand
thatthecoinmachinebusinesswasmore intoalargeroneandthenquicklyinto family.Therehavebeenmanyrumours
thanameansofgivingthemselvesa stilllargerpremisesasthenewandvital concerningthepossiblesaleoftheR.
reasonableliving;ithadtheprospectof marketemerged,weatheringthestorm Francobusinesstointernationalgroups,
becomingaseriousbusiness,which whenthecutbackswereannouncedand buttheshrewdinvestmentsanddecisions
mightlaythefoundationofafuturefor comingbacklearnerandfitterwhenthe madebybothJoaquínandJesús,have
theirfamilies. restrictionswererelaxedagain.In1977 ensuredthatwhateverthefuturenow
thelastmovetookplacetothepresent holdsforR.Franco,itcanmakethose
JesúsandJoaquínbothlearnedtorepair factoryinMadrid,whichnowcovers choicesonitsownterms.Ourdeepest
machinesandtobuildgamesoftheir morethan100.000sq.ft,andisonly10 sympathiestothefamiliesofbothmen.
G3 l December2009 l Page29
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