Extended Stay seeks to identify current holders of $4.1 bln loan

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Extended Stay America Inc [ESAIN.UL], the bankrupt lodging chain, is looking for the names of current holders of a $4.1 billion mortgage loan that, in part, financed Lightstone Group's $8 billion buyout of the company in 2007.

Court filings show that on Thursday, Extended Stay asked a judge to approve a motion that will force the certificate registrar, Wells Fargo Bank, to disclose information that will help identify parties with an "economic stake" in the $4.1 billion mortgage loan.

Extended Stay said the information was necessary and critical for it to proceed with negotiating a reorganization plan.

"The certificate registrar has access to the information requested herein, but to date, has been unwilling to provide such information on a voluntary basis," the company said in a filing.

The original lenders of the mortgage loan were Wachovia Bank, Bear Stearns Commercial Mortgage Inc and Bank of America, the filing said.

However, after 2007 acquisition closed, the mortgage lenders sold their interests in the loan and in exchange received certificates representing their interests in a vehicle holding the mortgage loan and collateral, the filing said.

In September, Ralph Mabey, a former bankruptcy court judge, was appointed to examine Extended Stay's acquisition by David Lichtenstein's Lightstone Group.

Extended Stay filed for bankruptcy protection in June this year, saying it was "significantly over-leveraged" and that projected cash flows could not continue to service its more than $7 billion debt.

The case is In re: Extended Stay Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No.09-13764. (Reporting by Santosh Nadgir in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar)