SPARTANBURG, SC-Now that Centerbridge Partners, LP has come outthe winner in the auction to take Extended Stay, Inc. out ofbankruptcy protection, after offering $3.93 billion for the hotelchain, “the company will have a clearer direction and get back tonormal, (with regard to) strategic planning for stabilization,growth and marketing,” says Frank Nardozza, CEO of REH CapitalPartners, LLC, a real estate and hotel investment advisory firmbased in Ft. Lauderdale. “Over the last year, the future directionof the hotel chain was in flux,” awaiting bankruptcy restructuring.“Now, executives in charge can know the chain’s financial structureand what capital will be available to continue growth in thecompany,” he says.

Early last Friday morning, the investor consortium, whichincludes Paulson & Co. and the Blackstone Group, bested itsrival for Extended Stay, a group led by Starwood Capital Group,which offered $3.88 billion for the hotel chain. J.P. Morgan Chase& Co. and Deutsche Bank AG are important backers of theCenterbridge bid, sources told the Wall Street Journallast week.

The cash offer, which must be approved by the bankruptcy court,would come close to paying back Extended Stay’s $4.1 billion firstmortgage, according to the Wall Street Journal. ExtendedStay Hotels, which currently has 680 properties, was purchased bythe Lightstone Group for $8 billion in 2007 from the BlackstoneGroup. At the time, there was only $600 million worth of equity inthe deal supplied by Lightstone and preferred equity partner, ArborRealty Trust.