Extended Stay Hotels Chain Files for Bankruptcy (Update1)
By Bob Van Voris
June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Extended Stay Hotels, which operates a chain of mid-priced extended stay hotels in 44 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, filed for bankruptcy protection in New York today citing decreased revenue and high debt costs.
The chain, with more than 680 properties, said it had $7.1 billion in assets and $7.6 billion in debts at the end of last year. The company employs approximately 10,000, it said in papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
“Extended Stay is significantly over-leveraged and the projected cash flows cannot continue to service over $7 billion in debt,” Joseph Teichman, Extended Stay’s secretary and general counsel, said in a declaration filed in the case.
Teichman said Extended Stay has seen a drop in revenue resulting from decreased business spending on travel. Extended Stay was acquired in June 2007 by Lightstone Group LLC, a New Jersey-based real-estate owner, $7.4 billion of which was finance.
Extended Stay rents rooms for government and business travelers, workers on temporary assignment and training and people who are relocating and looking for permanent homes, Teichman said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=akEd85FxmlBE