Less than three years after leaving bankruptcy, Extended Stay America has made plans to sell its shares to the investing public.
Extended Stay, a hotel chain owned by three investment firms, filed on Monday for an initial public offering. The I.P.O. would be the latest deal to test investors’ willingness to bet on a recovery in real estate.
The offering will consist of common stock of Extended Stay America and Class B stock of ESH Hospitality, a real estate investment trust, the filing said. Those two securities will be attached and trade together, according to the company.
The company said in the filing that it would aim to raise up to $100 million in an I.P.O., but that amount could change. It did not specify the number of shares to be sold or the price.
The offering would represent a relatively rapid turnaround for Extended Stay under its three owners - the investment firms Centerbridge Partners and Paulson & Company and the private equity firm Blackstone Group - which bought the company out of bankruptcy for about $3.9 billion in 2010.
It would also be the latest “exit†for a company backed by private equity. With stocks buoyant, private equity firms have held public offerings this year for a range of companies, including HD Supply, Quintiles Transnational and SeaWorld Entertainment.
Founded in 1995, Extended Stay has grown into a giant in the North American hotel business, with 682 hotel properties in the United States and Canada. In addition to its flagship brand, it operates under the names Crossland Economy Studios and Hometown Inn.
The company has had a handful of financial owners in recent years, starting in 2004 with an acquisition by Blackstone. Several years later, at the peak of the commercial real estate market, Blackstone sold Extended Stay for $8 billion to the Lightstone Group, a real estate firm.
But the hotel chain suffered in the economic downturn, hurt as business and leisure travelers cut back on trips, and it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009. Blackstone returned, with Centerbridge and Paulson, to buy the company in October 2010.
The company plans to use proceeds from an I.P.O. to maintain its majority ownership of the real estate investment trust, which, in turn, plans to reduce its debt. Extended Stay reported $3.6 billion of total debt as of March 31.
The company reported $1 billion of revenue last year, a 7 percent increase from the year earlier. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose to $434.3 million in 2012 from $409.8 million in 2011.
Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are handling the offering.
