Ex-bankruptcy judge to lead Extended Stay probe

NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) - A former bankruptcy court judge was appointed to examine the purchase and financing of lodging chain Extended Stay America Inc [ESAIN.UL], a bankrupt chain of hotels.

Ralph Mabey, who served as a bankruptcy judge from 1979 to 1983, was named by a New York bankruptcy court to look into the acquisition of Extended Stay by David Lichtenstein's Lightstone Group.

Lightstone borrowed $7.4 billion to purchase the chain of 680 hotels from a Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) affiliate in 2007.

Mabey, who is also a professor of law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law in Salt Lake City in Utah, will also examine events leading to the June bankruptcy of Extended Stay, the largest owner and operator of mid-price extended stay hotels in the United States.

New York's bankruptcy court also recently appointed Mabey to help mediate disputes in the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Investors have said in court documents that senior lenders induced Lichtenstein to put the company into bankruptcy, which violated provisions of loan agreements.

The case is In re Extended Stay, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 09-13764. (Reporting by Tom Hals, editing by Dave Zimmerman)