Lien filed against DI in merger dispute

Monday, June 26, 2000 | 11:27 a.m.

A Las Vegas hotel-casino broker who sued Starwood Hotels & Resorts in February to recover a finder's fee for the 1998 merger between Starwood and ITT Corp. has now filed a lien against Starwood's former property, the Desert Inn, to protect his claim.

Leslie Kemmerer, who operates through a brokerage called Las Vegas Industries, claimed Starwood Chairman Barry Sternlicht verbally agreed in 1997 to pay him a 1 percent finders' fee -- $146 million -- for information he allegedly provided to Starwood in its bid to take over ITT, which was being pursued at that time by Hilton Hotels Corp.

ITT, which owned Caesars Palace and 10 affiliate properties at the time, was acquired by Starwood for $14.6 billion.

Barry Levinson, Kemmerer's attorney, said he filed a lien on June 21 against the Desert Inn following announcements last week by Steve Wynn -- who bought the resort from Starwood for $270 million -- that he will close the Desert Inn by Sep. 30 to make way for the development of a new megaresort.

"We filed the lis pendens because the Desert Inn is one of the last holdings Starwood has in Las Vegas and we feel we have a claim to it or at least a portion of the property," said Barry Levinson, Kemmerer's attorney. "It was filed not necessarily to stop the closing but to affect the transfer."

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

Starwood's attorney could not be reached for comment.