Starwood reenters Extended Stay bidding

Starwood Capital Group, best known for its W Hotels brand, is planning to up its bid for bankrupt hotel chain Extended Stay, a lawyer for the company said in court. Starwood had been previously outbid by a group of investors led by Ceterbridge Partners and Paulson & Co. and joined yesterday by Blackstone Group, who offered $905 million for the 680-property chain. The offer is considered by the investors and by Extended Stay to be the stalking horse bid, meaning other offers would need to exceed it. Extended Stay filed the largest-ever bankruptcy in the hotel industry in June with $7.6 billion in debt. The deadline for proposals is May 17 and an auction is scheduled for May 27. [Bloomberg]