NEW YORK — One of the country's largest private real estate investors, Lightstone Group, will buy Extended Stay Hotels from private equity firm Blackstone Group for $8 billion, a sign that investors see strength ahead for the booming hotel sector.
Lightstone announced the deal Wednesday. It will finance the deal with $1 billion in cash and $7 billion in debt.
Extended Stay Hotels -- the biggest owner of mid-priced extended-stay hotels -- owns 683 properties with 76,000 rooms in 44 states across the U.S. and in Canada.
