April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Innkeepers USA Trust, the owner of Residence Inns and Summerfield Suites hotels, agreed to a $1.5 billion buyout from a unit of Apollo Investment Corp.

Apollo will pay $17.75 a share in cash, the companies said today in a statement distributed by Business Wire.

Innkeepers, based in Palm Beach, Florida, owns 74 hotels with a total of 9,808 rooms.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Mirabella in New York at amirabella@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 16, 2007 08:15 EDT