Newspaper wrap-up 4-18-07: Blackberry service suffers meltdown

MAJOR PAPERS:

Vonage Holdings Corp (NYSE: VG) said bankruptcy is one of the potential risks from its continuing patent litigation with phone giant Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ), reported the Wall Street Journal.
Blackstone Group is selling Extended Stay Hotels to Lightstone Group for $8B, which beat offers from Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS), according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal reported that other financial firms such as Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC), CIT Group Inc (NYSE: CIT), iStar Financial (NYSE: SFI), and KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) may be in play after the sale of Sallie Mae (NYSE: SLM).

OTHER PAPERS:

The Telegraph reported that General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) is looking to sell a natural gas power plant in the UK for an estimated GBP450M-GBP500M, with potential buyers including E.ON AG ADS (NYSE: EON) and Scottish Power ADS (NYSE: SPI).
The New York Post has learned that Heather Pech, a senior Jones Apparel Group Inc (NYSE: JNY) executive that headed the Nine West retail chain, has left the company.

WEBSITES:

WNBC.com reported that Research in Motion Limited's (NASDAQ: RIMM) Blackberry service is suffering a massive system failure since last night.

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