Starwood Near Deal To Sell Desert Inn

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Trust is close to an agreement to sell ITT Corp.’s Desert Inn Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Chairman Barry Sternlicht said.

The sale is likely to fetch more than the $250 million ITT was to get in its now-canceled sale of half the property to investor Marvin Davis, he said.

New York-based ITT had agreed in August 1997 to sell a half-interest in the Desert Inn for $250 million in cash and assumed debt to Davis as part of its strategy to fend off Hilton Hotels Corp.’s hostile takeover attempt. Hilton was outbid by Starwood.

Sternlicht said there are several interested parties, though he declined to give their names.

Starwood is in the process of buying ITT, which operates the Sheraton hotel and Caesars World casino chains, for $14.6 billion. Sternlicht has said he would take 18 months after the purchase’s close to decide whether to keep or sell the casinos.