Innkeepers USA plunges on possible bankruptcy filing

Preferred shares of U.S. hotel real estate investment trust Innkeepers USA Trust sank as much as 82 percent on April 21, a day after Reuters exclusively reported that the company was preparing a possible bankruptcy filing and had hired advisers at Kirkland & Ellis and Moelis & Co. Shares of Apollo Investment Trust, which led a 2007 buyout of the company, fell almost 5 percent on the Nasdaq as well. Dow Jones picked up the story the following morning, citing Reuters reporting for the story. The story was also picked up in posts on the New York Times Dealbook website, the WSJ`s Bankruptcy Beat blog and Seeking Alpha, which all cited Reuters for the story. The Reuters story ran two hours before a Wall Street Journal piece on distressed hotels that focused on Innkeepers but was unable to match any of the details in the Reuters story.