Suit Filed Over Las Vegas Hilton Sale Attempt

LOS ANGELES— A $20 million dollar lawsuit was filed by Los Angeles developer Ed Roski Jr. against Las Vegas Hilton, claiming that his failed deal to buy the property last year, for $365 million, cost him $20 million in various deposits and fees, according to Reuters. Roski alleges that Hilton tried to buy back the property and, after failing at that, worked behind the scenes to scuttle the sale of the hotel. The property’s profits declined sharply last year after Park Place Entertainment agreed to sell the property to Roski, in a deal that later collapsed. The question now is whether the sudden drop in profitability violated the terms of the July 2000 deal to sell the former playground for high rollers. At the center of a legal battle is the role played by Hilton Hotels Corp., which spun off its gaming assets in 1998 to form Park Place. Park Place, meanwhile, counters that the propertys decline did not violate its sale agreement, and that the deal fell apart because Roski could not secure the necessary financing. The sale was unveiled last July, when Roski said he planned to shift the 32-year-old Las Vegas Hilton away from its focus on high-end gaming and toward convention-oriented business. Hilton was also interested in buying the property, but was not selected by Park Place as the preferred buyer, according to the suit filed by Roski in U.S. District Court in Clark County, Nevada. Hilton in a separate filing denied it had expressed interest in the property. SOURCE: Reuters