We serve clients in various industry sectors, among them:
We bring informed perspectives, strategic thinking, and uncommon insight, plus the right tools and tactics needed to navigate, negotiate, and prevail.
- Automotive
- Education
- Environment
- Financial Services
- Healthcare
- Hospitality
- Infrastructure
- Life Sciences
- Manufacturing / Distribution / Logistics
- Mining
- Oil & Gas
- Public Sector
- Real Estate
- Retail
- Telecommunications / Media
- Technology
Lease Restructuring
Distressed M&A
Real Estate Investment Banking
Sugarfina known for its luxury candies, iconic packaging and high-end shops, filed for bankruptcy when saddled with $26.65 million of debt, $11 million of which was owed to Goldman Sachs. It sought to sell its assets via an “open and competitive process” A holding company, Candy Cube Holdings, LLC, made a “stalking horse” bid of $13 million. Through an acquisition corporation Sugarfina Acquisition Corp., was approved as a stalking horse buyer for Sugarfina. In determining the footprint for the brick-and-mortar portion of the business, Sugarfina Acquisition Corp. retained Keen-Summit as real estate advisors to negotiate rent reductions in advance of the auction. We were able to….[describe in a sentence or two how or why you were successful]
The Krystal Company, a Georgia-based chain, operating 182 quick-serve restaurants in nine states, filed for Chapter 11 protection in the Northern District of Georgia in January, 2020 to sell its assets after defaulting on its senior debts amounting to $xxxxxx. Closing dozens of its restaurants, the company blamed its financial troubles on shifting consumer preferences, growth in labor and commodity costs, increased competition, and unfavorable lease terms. Keen-Summit was retained as the exclusive real estate advisor to the debtor and then the purchaser of the company, providing lease restructuring services along with real estate advisory services to the new owner. We achieved significant savings in rent on a lease project that lasted less than 30 days.
Burdened with debt and declining sales, Things Remembered filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, Things Remembered filed a motion to approve the sale of some of its remaining outlets to Enesco, LLC a global leader in the giftware, home décor, and accessories. Industries. Prior to reaching terms with Enesco, it looked like Things Remembered was destined for liquidation.
Additionally, when the asset purchase agreement was executed, Enesco had only 30 days to acquire no more than 50 locations, and to determine which locations would be part of the go forward business. Enesco retained Keen-Summit to negotiate and document lease modification agreements within that 4-week timeline. Approximately 250 locations of the 400+/-store portfolio were closed within days of the bankruptcy filing, leaving Keen-Summit 30 days to negotiate with the landlords of the remaining retail locations.
Working cooperatively with the landlord community to keep as many locations open as possible and working hand-in-hand with Enesco, the Things Remembered team and counsel, Keen led the efforts which culminated in 176 restructured leases. This joint effort helped save an additional 126 stores and hundreds of jobs in a struggling retail market that had been experiencing countless store closings.
For decades, the five-star L’Ermitage Beverly Hills has long epitomized Hollywood glamour and been a magnet for the industry’s elite; its fabled bar is where producers, and screenwriters often gathered, and its residences where celebrities resided. It came under the possession of the U.S. government as a result of multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal. The United States District Court for the Central District of California, at the request of the United States Department of Justice, entered an Order authorizing the sale of the trophy property.
Michael M. Eidelman, Esq. Vedder Price P.C., Special Master engaged Keen-Summit to broker the sale. In May 2020, during the COVID quarantine, Keen-Summit initiated a robust marketing plan that leveraged its industry relationships and proprietary database, fielding inquiries from over 1000 prospects, nearly 800 of whom executed the non-disclosure agreement and received over 50 offers. Keen-Sumnmit successfully secured a $100 million offer from EOS Investors LLC. The sale closed on October 22, 2020. This sale is one of the largest hospitality transactions in 2020.
Seaboard Realty and its affiliates owned a portfolio of investment grade commercial properties (multi multifamily, commercial/office and hospitality), in and around Stamford, Connecticut.
Following an investigation into financial irregularities, Seaboard filed Chapter 11 and retained a real estate team, led by Keen-Summit, to market and sell the properties. In less than three months Keen-Summit and its partners synthesized an immense amount of financial and property information to create marketing materials, updated financial projections and a data-room.
Over 300 property inquiries, 260+ NDAs were signed and 75+ property tours given. A total of 25 qualified bids were presented and the assets sold at auction for $148,383,298.
|
Property |
Property Type |
Sale Price |
|
Office / Retail |
||
|
88 Hamilton Avenue, Stamford, CT |
154,000 RSF Office/Industrial; 100% Occupied |
$26,870,581.51 |
|
1 Atlantic Street, Stamford, CT |
81,000 RSF Office Retail Building; 93% Occupied |
$18,000,000.00 |
|
300 Main Street, Stamford, CT |
81,000 RSF Office/Retail Building with parking garage |
$11,650,000.00 |
|
220 Elm Street, New Canaan, CT |
18,500 RSF Multi-tenant Office Building; 93% Occupied |
$6,957,717.00 |
|
Multi-family |
||
|
Clocktower Condo Units, Stamford, CT |
6 Residential Condominiums Units |
$655,000.00 |
|
100 Prospect Street, Stamford, CT |
Multifamily Mid-Rise Building with 82 Units |
$18,250,000.00 |
|
101 Summer Street, Stamford, CT |
Multifamily Mid-Rise Building with 143 Units |
$40,000,000.00 |
|
Hotel |
||
|
275 Summer Street, Stamford, CT |
Marriott Courtyard with 115 guest rooms |
$26,000,000.00 |
|
Total |
$148,383,298.51 |
The Hermitage Club at Haystack Ski Mountain, a 838-acre, members-only ski and golf resort in Wilmington, Connecticut, closed in the spring of 2018 in a foreclosure action. By May 2019, the debtors were in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding. The debtors’ assets included a private ski resort at Haystack Mountain, golf course, Hermitage Inn, Snow Goose Inn, Doveberry Inn, Horizon Inn, and undeveloped parcels of land. On February 20, 2020, the bankruptcy trustee obtained court approval for stalking horse offers on the debtors’ assets, for a March 16 bid deadline, and for a March 20 auction.
With 6 weeks until the bid deadline and a growing coronavirus pandemic, Berkshire Bank, as a secured mortgagee, engaged Keen-Summit to advertise and market the bank’s collateral for the auction. In the midst of the pandemic, with a telephonic Bankruptcy Court auction, Keen-Summit successfully secured an $8,060,000 overbid for the debtors’ assets. Closed in June 2020.
