Deutsche Bank to Sell Cosmopolitan Casino

Deutsche Bank agreed on Thursday to sell Cosmopolitan Casino in Las Vegas, which is one of the town’s most expensive resorts. The property will be sold to the Blackstone Group for about $1.73 billion in cash.

The deal will finally end a long and painful foray by Deutsche Bank into the casino business, after it foreclosed on the resort’s developer, Bruce Eichner, in January 2008. It was one of many, as banks moved to take over troubled gambling properties at the onset of the financial crisis.

Since then, the firm has tried to make the best of its new property, a standout even among the Las Vegas glittering mega-resorts. It recruited a high-powered management team that included a senior executive from Caesars Entertainment to construct a luxury resort on a fraction of the land that rival casinos like the Bellagio own.

But Deutsche Bank had always made clear that they would sell Cosmopolitan Casino — replete with a three-story crystal chandelier, luxury shops and the Western outpost of the New York club Marquee.

Though the Cosmo represents a $4 billion investment for Deutsche Bank, it has never turned a profit. This story originally appeared in the New York Times.

The Cosmopolitan is a luxury resort casino and hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The resort opened on December 15, 2010, and is located just south of the Bellagio on the west side of Las Vegas Boulevard. It is owned by The Blackstone Group and operated by MGM Resorts International.