US hotel chain operator Extended Stay America has been sold to an investment consortium for $3.9bn.

The buy-out by a consortium comprising US-based Blackstone, Paulson & Co and Centerbridge Partners enabled the US hotel chain operator to emerge from bankruptcy.

The company filed for creditor protection in June 2009 for $3.9bn under a restructuring plan.

Extended Stay, which operates 680 hotels, is over $7bn in debt.

The debt is attributed to the company’s leveraged buyout by Lightstone Holdings in 2007 and the global economic crisis.