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Red Roof's Shoddy Deal

By Jim Cramer

 About this article:
 What didn't they take private? What didn't they lever up? When I read about Extended Stay's bankruptcy and Red Roof's default Tuesday night I started thinking did anyone besides me ever stay at places like this? Did anyone ever realize the marginality of these places? Did they simply look at some numbers on some pieces of paper and say, "Yep, that's money in the bank?" And sure enough, Citigroup was the lender to Red Roof, a deal two years old that has already gone sour. Maybe this was one of those have-to-keep-dancing-until the-music-stops deals by Chuck Prince, the foremost clown of all of the bankers of the era. Red Roof reminds me of the failed deal for Harmon, another totally marginal company that the bankers tried to lever up in the end. I mean, seriously, who decided these things? Did anyone even think about them? Did they...

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