Robert Earl, the entrepreneur behind the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain, has agreed to a £19m settlement with casino and bingo operator Rank, ending a dispute that has dragged on for 11 years.

Earl agrees £19m settlement with casino operator

Robert Earl, the entrepreneur behind the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain, has agreed to a £19m settlement with casino and bingo operator Rank, ending a dispute that has dragged on for 11 years, according to The Guardian.

The dispute stems from Mr Earl's sale of his restaurant and leisure interests to a company named Pleasurama in 1987 – and has been the subject of wrangling ever since as the business has passed on to a string of different owners, ending in Rank Group.

Mr Earl, above right, had been claiming £108m plus interest from Rank but yesterday a former Andersen partner who was hired to resolve the dispute ruled the casino operator should pay £10m to Mr Earl, plus interest of almost £9m. Under the terms of Mr Earl's 1987 deal, the entrepreneur became the chief executive of Pleasurama, with part of the sale price linked to the performance of the business under his management.

A year later, Pleasurama acquired an interest in Hard Rock Cafe and Mr Earl arranged for his earn-out agreement to be amended and linked to the performance of the international restaurant chain.

The same year Pleasurama was acquired by Mecca Leisure, which, in turn, was acquired by Rank in 1991.

Rank Group, which still includes the Mecca bingo business and the Hard Rock Cafe chain, said the settlement would not impact its profit and loss account.