Moody's Eyes La Quinta Ratings

Moody's Investors Service has placed the Ba2 senior unsecured debt and B1 preferred stock ratings of La Quinta under review for possible downgrade, citing La Quinta's Nov. 9 announcement that it is being acquired by an affiliate of the Blackstone Group in a transaction valued at $3.4 billion.The terms of the all-cash financing for the transaction have not been disclosed. Moody's said the rating action reflects its concern that La Quinta's capital structure would be more highly leveraged and contain a "significant amount" of secured debt after the acquisition. La Quinta, based in Irving, Texas, is a paired-share hospitality firm consisting of a real estate investment trust -- La Quinta Properties Inc. -- and La Quinta Corp. Moody's can be found on the Web at http://www.moodys.com.