Yung closes in on purchase of hotel chain.(Bill Yung nearly ready to buy Lodgian Inc.)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)(Statistical Data Included)

Bill Yung is in the home stretch.

The Northern Kentucky hotelier has signed an agreement that gives him 60 days to finalize the $133.6 million acquisition of Atlanta hotel chain Lodgian Inc. Yung has pursued the takeover for more than a year, starting with a $181 million offer in November 1999.

Since then, Lodgian has sold 23 properties at prices totaling $209 million as it copes with mounting losses and struggles to pay down nearly $900 million in long term debt. Despite that divestiture, Lodgian still has 114 hotels in the United States and Canada, including the Holiday Inn, in Queensgate and a handful of hotel properties in Florence and Fort Mitchell. By …