Carlton Group has reported that Carlton Strategic Ventures, CSV, the principal investment and merchant banking group of the Carlton Group, has acquired a $214 million participation in the M7 mezzanine loan tranche on the Extended Stay Hotels portfolio. The M7 loan tranche is a senior mezzanine level tranche with over $1 billion of subordinate debt and borrower equity. The M7 mezzanine loan is part of a $7.4 billion financing provided by Wachovia Bank, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, and Bear Stearns to fund the acquisition of Extended Stay Hotels Inc. by the Lightstone Group in June 2007.
The primary collateral underlying the loan is a portfolio of 664 extended stay hotel properties, as well as a pledge of all cash flow from 17 ground-leased properties, which comprise approximately 75,700 hotel rooms in the United States and Canada. Certain of the investors that hold mezzanine tranche positions in ESH include Fortress Investment Group, SL Green Realty Corp., Square Mile Capital Management, Archon Group, Ashford Hospitality Trust, and numerous other highly-regarded financial institutions and investors.









