Icahn Sells Stratosphere and Arizona Charlie Properties

NEW YORK -- American Entertainment Properties Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Real Estate Partners, L.P., announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Whitehall Street Real
The Stratosphere in Las Vegas.  Estate Funds, a series of real estate investment funds affiliated with Goldman, Sachs & Co., to sell AREP's gaming operations for $1.3 billion. With this transaction, AREP anticipates realizing a gain of approximately $1 billion on its investments in ACEP. ACEP's casino assets are comprised of the Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower, the Arizona Charlie's Decatur, the Arizona Charlie's Boulder and the Aquarius Casino Resort. AREP began investing in the casino business when it invested in the Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower in 1998. Additionally, AREP acquired Arizona Charlie's Decatur and Arizona Charlie's Boulder in May 2004, and the Aquarius Casino Resort in May 2006.

"Our gaming investments are a successful example of our strategy of acquiring undervalued and out of favor assets, and improving operations and enhancing value," said Carl C. Icahn, Chairman of the Board of the general partner of AREP. "The management team has done a great job turning this business around. We believe that this sale represents an opportunity for AREP to take advantage of the current favorable market environment for gaming assets and to realize significant gains on our multiyear investment in the industry. Pro forma for this transaction AREP will have in excess of $4 billion of liquidity to continue to invest in undervalued assets."

The Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower is located on the Las Vegas Strip and caters to visitors to Las Vegas; two off-Strip casinos, Arizona Charlie's Decatur and Arizona Charlie's Boulder, cater primarily to residents of Las Vegas and the surrounding communities; and the Aquarius Casino Resort caters to visitors to Laughlin, Nevada. The Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower is one of the most recognized landmarks in Las Vegas. The purchase also includes 17 acres of undeveloped land surrounding the Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower. The two Arizona Charlie's branded properties are well-recognized casinos in their respective marketplaces, while the Aquarius Casino Resort has the largest hotel in Laughlin. ACEP's gaming operations include 4,912 hotel rooms, 4,887 slots, 122 table games and 5,619 total gaming positions over an aggregate of 236,000 square feet of casino space.