Trouble

The Extended Stay litigation trust has sued The Blackstone Group, The Lightstone Group and others involved in the 2007 buyout of the hotel chain, Reuters reported. In its lawsuit, the trust charged that Blackstone had skimmed $2.1 billion from Extended Stay at the closing of the leveraged buyout, leaving the company under-capitalized and unable to survive, Reuters wrote. Extended Stay filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2009 with more than $7 billion in debt. The firm emerged from bankruptcy more than a year later, with a consortium including Blackstone, Paulson & Co. and Centerbridge Partners buying the chain for $3.9 billion.