Marvin Davis Pays Cash for Beverly Hills Hotel

A partnership controlled by oilman Marvin Davis paid $136 million in cash for the landmark Beverly Hills Hotel, it was learned Monday.

Additionally, Davis said in a statement that he plans to invest an additional $40 million to refurbish the 60-year-old facility on Sunset Boulevard.

“I am very excited to be acquiring this great hotel,� Davis said in a statement released simultaneously Monday by his New York and Los Angeles public relations firms.

It was the first public comment by the 61-year-old Davis on the purchase of the hotel. The Times had reported Sunday that the Denver oil millionaire had made the high bid last week in a transaction executed by the real estate arm of Morgan Stanley & Co., the New York investment banking firm.

“It’s all cash on the barrel head,� confirmed Muriel Slatkin, one of the hotel’s owners.

About 52% of the hotel’s stock had been controlled by Seema Boesky of New York, wife of Ivan F. Boesky, the Wall Street speculator who has been the focus of a widening federal investigation of insider stock trading. Ivan Boesky has no personal stake in the hotel.

The other 48% of the hotel’s stock is controlled by Seema Boesky’s sister, Muriel Slatkin of Beverly Hills, her estranged husband and the two Slatkin sons. The sisters were given the hotel in the 1950s by their father, Michigan businessman Ben L. Silberstein.

“The Beverly Hills (Hotel) is an important landmark, rich with history,� said Davis, former owner of the 20th Century Fox movie studio. “It is synonymous with Beverly Hills and the entertainment industry. We plan to restore it to its position of prominence and to operate it in a manner consistent with a great tradition and illustrious clientele.�

Whether sale of the hotel to the wealthy Davis will end a bitter federal lawsuit between the Boeskys and the Slatkins remains to be seen. In that lawsuit, the Slatkins accused Ivan Boesky of using hotel funds in his stock speculation activities. Boesky denied the charge.

A federal judge recently threw out the lawsuit, but Muriel Slatkin threatened to revive it. The hotel sale, however, appears to have put the litigation on the back burner.

“I’m setting it aside for the moment,� Muriel Slatkin said Monday.

The partnership that will run the hotel consists of Davis, who has residences in both Los Angeles and Denver, and three longtime business associates: Myron Miller and Gerald Gray, both of Denver, and Thomas Klutznick of Chicago.