LV man seeks finders fee for merger

Friday, Feb. 18, 2000 | 10:42 a.m.

A Las Vegas hotel-casino broker sued Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Clark County District Court on Thursday, claiming the company's chairman reneged on an agreement to pay him a finder's fee for the 1998 merger between Starwood and ITT Corp.

ITT, which owned Caesars Palace and 10 affiliate properties at the time, was acquired by Starwood for $14.6 billion. Leslie Kemmerer, who operates through a brokerage called Las Vegas Industries, said Starwood Chairman Barry Sternlicht agreed in 1997 to pay him a 1 percent fee -- $146 million -- on this deal.

Kemmerer claimed he met Sternlicht in Las Vegas in May 1997 and suggested to him that Starwood should attempt to take over ITT, which was being pursued at that time by Hilton Hotels Corp. Kemmerer alleges Sternlicht "liked my acquisition concept and (said) we had a deal," though he said Sternlicht declined to put anything in writing about the 1 percent finder's fee.

After Starwood's takeover announcement, Kemmerer said he was "totally stonewalled" by Sternlicht, and that Sternlicht's attorney denied any obligation to pay a finder's fee.

Starwood sold the Caesars properties to Park Place Entertainment Corp. late last year for $3 billion.

A Starwood spokesman could not be reached for comment.