Smart Business Dealmakers

Pleasant Valley Corp. buys NAI Daus, NAI Cummins

Thu, 17 Jan 2019 16:31:12 Z

Medina-based Pleasant Valley Corp. has acquired NAI Daus of Beachwood and NAI Cummins of Akron, adding the firms to its existing commercial real estate services to create NAI Pleasant Valley. The company also announced that the local property management function of NAI Global would be handled by the newly formed NAI Pleasant Valley Property Management.

NAI Pleasant Valley will be the Northern Ohio affiliate office of NAI Global, a global commercial real estate brokerage firm.
Principals of NAI Pleasant Valley are Gino Faciana and Barbara Faciana, Co-CEOs of Pleasant Valley Corp., and Alec Pacella, former managing partner of NAI Daus, now president of NAI Pleasant Valley.
Jill Dzina will be vice president of property management for NAI Pleasant Valley Property Management.
Terms were not disclosed.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Kurt Kleidon, 330-666-5984 Kurt@kleidon.com PLEASANT VALLEY CORPORATION ALIGNS WITH TWO NAI GLOBAL OFFICES, LAUNCHES REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE NAI PLEASANT VALLEY FOR NORTHERN OHIO Separate Real Estate Operation is Formed by Combination of Cleveland’s NAI Daus and Akron’s NAI Cummins, Will Serve Markets in Seven Counties Pleasant Valley Corporation Also Establishes NAI Pleasant Valley Property Management as National Service for Property Owners MEDINA, Ohio, January 17, 2019—Pleasant Valley Corporation (PVC) announces that it is aligning its commercial real estate services with the Northeast Ohio real estate brokerage offices of NAI Global, thereby creating NAI Pleasant Valley, Northern Ohio’s largest, most reputable and active industrial real estate brokerage. NAI Pleasant Valley will provide commercial real estate services, worldwide. Locally, it serves Cleveland and Akron and the surrounding counties of Cuyahoga, Summit, Portage, Lorain, Medina, Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula, with expanding service for other regions of northern Ohio as well. NAI Pleasant Valley offers an extensive range of brokerage services, including feasibility studies and management. To comprise NAI Pleasant Valley, PVC’s current commercial real estate operations will be combined with those of the former brokerages NAI Daus and NAI Cummins. The new NAI Pleasant Valley is the Northern Ohio office of NAI Global, leading global commercial real estate brokerage firm. NAI Pleasant Valley brings together the skills and experience of the two former NAI offices in Beachwood and Akron, the dynamic growth and breadth of services of sister company PVC, and the worldwide service network of NAI Global. (NAI Pleasant Valley is a separate entity from PVC.) NAI Global offices are leaders in their local markets and work in unison to provide clients with exceptional solutions to their commercial real estate needs, locally and globally. NAI local offices consistently rank in the top tier among the competition as measured for both local and global execution of commercial real estate service to clients. The principals of NAI Pleasant Valley are Gino Faciana and Barbara Faciana, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Pleasant Valley Corporation, and Alec Pacella, former managing partner of NAI Daus, now President of NAI Pleasant Valley. Gino Faciana said, “We are very happy to announce this new venture, which brings together significant pools of real estate talent and experience to serve commercial markets in Northern Ohio. NAI Pleasant Valley is the regional leader in providing high quality services and properties, having served the area’s industrial, commercial, office, retail and investment real estate property needs for more than 40 years.” Alec Pacella said, “This is an exciting moment for everyone involved. Our people know commercial real estate and they know the markets. With three great real estate operations brought together and backed by NAI Global’s capacity, this is the start of great things.” Like other NAI Global offices, NAI Pleasant Valley is a strong, local firm within a cohesive global brokerage organization actively managed for peak performance. In this structure NAI Global corporate leadership team aligns with local offices under a shared strategic vision and plan that focuses on delivery of the highest quality service to their clients. As part of the NAI Global network, NAI Pleasant Valley has the resources, skills and local knowledge to source new acquisitions all over the world, analyze a local investment or development project, position a property for sale or contemplate a disposal strategy. NAI Pleasant Valley Property Management is New Property Management Division of Pleasant Valley Pleasant Valley Corporation also announced that the local property management function of NAI Global would reside within its operations as NAI Pleasant Valley Property Management. This reflects the national management network which PVC deploys for facilities management and construction across the U.S., as well as the expertise of NAI Global and its offices in property management on behalf of property owners. Services include project leasing, management services, investment services and research. Owning and investing in property spans many property types and interests, from business owners looking to invest in their own single facility, to institutions with multiple assets in markets around the world. NAI Pleasant Valley Property Management can help clients at any scale, in every part of the property ownership life cycle. Jill Dzina will be Vice President of Property Management for NAI Pleasant Valley Property Management. Entities in New Structure are Local and Global The entities involved in the new ventures are: Pleasant Valley Corporation (PVC): 40+ year-old construction, real estate, and facilities management company, based in Medina, Ohio. NAI Pleasant Valley: new, large commercial real estate brokerage that is the Northern Ohio office of NAI Global, serving seven counties and combining the former functions of NAI Daus and NAI Cummins with the commercial real estate operations of PVC. NAI Pleasant Valley Property Management: new, national property management arm of PVC, drawing on the expertise of NAI Global as well as PVC’s national management experience. NAI Global: international network of commercial real estate with 210 offices and more than 7,000 professionals around the world. NAI PLEASANT VALLEY is headquartered at the Medina County corporate offices of PLEASANT VALLEY CORPORATION, with its Cleveland brokerage on Chagrin Boulevard in Beachwood and Akron brokerage on White Pond Drive in Akron.

Ranpak sells for $950M; going public

Thu, 13 Dec 2018 12:22:34 Z

After months of speculation that Ranpak Inc. would be sold by Rhône Capital, the Concord Township-based packaging products company is being bought for $950 million by One Madison Corp., a special purpose acquisition company.

The deal, which will result in Ranpak being listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is expected to result in a value of just under $1.1 billion for the company, an 11.5x multiple on Ranpak’s $95 million in adjusted EBITDA.

Rhone Capital reportedly had retained Goldman Sachs this summer to pursue a deal valued as high as an estimated $1.5 billion. Ranpak President and CEO Mark Borseth will remain on board in those roles. One Madison CEO Omar Asali will serve as executive chairman.

One Madison raised $450 million in a public offering last January. At the time, Asali said he was seeking a company to acquire and take public. A former co-head of Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Strategies, he most recently was CEO of HRG Group, an investment holding company whose primary assets were investments in Spectrum Brands and Fidelity & Guaranty Life.

“We launched One Madison Corporation less than a year ago to acquire a business that met several criteria: a strong brand with leading market share, a history of innovation, a scalable platform with organic and strategic growth potential, and strong free cash flow generation,” Asali said in a statement. “Ranpak meets and exceeds these criteria with a large and expanding addressable market, compelling growth opportunities and proven financial performance.”

Ranpak is a leading provider of environmentally sustainable packaging systems. It boasts an installed platform of more than 90,000 machines and sells value-added consumables to end users through a network of exclusive distributor relationships. Revenue from recurring customers and customer retention rates both exceeded 90 percent over the past five years, the company said.

“We are pleased to welcome One Madison as our new long-term strategic owner,” Ranpak’s Borseth said. “Omar and his team embrace our products and business strategy and the importance of continuing to lead in environmental sustainability, particularly in e-commerce.” The deal is being funded with:

$300 million in cash from One Madison.
$407 million of debt.
$292 million of committed equity investments from One Madison investors and strategic partners, including the family offices of Jonathan Soros and Robert Soros and entities managed by Blackstone Alternative Solutions.

The sale – approved by the boards of One Madison and Rhône Capital – is expected to close in spring 2019, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.

SITE Centers forges $607 million joint venture

Fri, 30 Nov 2018 17:25:48 Z

Beachwood-based SITE Centers Corp., the former Developers Diversified Realty, said it has formed a joint venture with a pair of Chinese institutional investors by selling an 80 percent stake in a 10-property portfolio.

Dividend Trust Portfolio was valued at about $607 million, said SITE Centers which will retain a 20% stake in the JV and receive management fees.

“This exciting joint venture is the culmination of a multi-year relationship building process that has resulted in a new strategic partnership that we expect to ultimately extend beyond this initial investment,” SITE Centers CEO David Lukes said in a statement.

The assets in the JV, none of which are in Northeast Ohio, were chosen to provide stable current income, SITE Centers said. As a result, the remaining 68-properties in the company's wholly owned portfolio will have an improved expected cash flow growth profile and increased exposure to redevelopment.

The deal is projected to reduce SITE Centers’ pro rata Debt to Adjusted EBITDA to below 6.0X and to increase weighted average debt maturity to 6.5 years from 5.7 years prior to the transaction.

Net proceeds from the transaction will be used to repay $95 million of mortgage debt maturing in first quarter 2019 and up to $400 million of unsecured debt. The Chinese investors were not identified.

FirstEnergy Generation to sell West Lorain facility

Tue, 20 Nov 2018 04:49:53 Z

FirstEnergy Generation has entered into a stalking horse agreement involving the sale of its West Lorain facility and associated assets to Vermillion Power, an affiliate of Starwood Energy Group Global for $144 million in cash, subject to closing adjustments.

The sale is part of a court-supervised bankruptcy auction process intended to maximize the value of the assets being sold by FirstEnergy Generation, which is in Chapter 11 as part of parent company FirstEnergy Solutions' reorganization. The company filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for approval of auction and bid procedures that will allow other competitive bids for the West Lorain facility and assets.

If no better bids are received, Starwood's offer will move forward. The sale is subject to regulatory approvals, including approval of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Hart-Scott-Rodino. If approved, the companies expect to close the transaction in the first half of 2019. The West Lorain Facility -- a 545 MW, periodic-start, combustion-turbine generation station -- is located on 500 acres near Lake Erie in Lorain. It was built in 1973 as a combined-cycle electric generating system with two combustion turbines (Units 1A and 1B), two heat recovery steam generators, and a steam turbine generator.

In 2001, five additional combustion turbines were installed (Units 2–6) and placed in operation.

The plant currently operates on fuel oil, but is also capable of operating on natural gas. FirstEnergy Solutions' bankruptcy is proceeding in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio in Akron. Information can be found at https://cases.primeclerk.com/FES. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is serving as legal counsel and Lazard is serving as investment banker to FirstEnergy Solutions. King & Spalding LLP is serving as legal counsel to Starwood.

PE-backed Victory Capital plans IPO

Fri, 19 Jan 2018 11:11:56 Z

Brooklyn-based Victory Capital Holdings, the former investment management unit of KeyCorp, has filed with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an initial public stock offering. The Brooklyn-based company was bought from Key in 2013 by PE firm Crestview Partners and key management for $246 million. Since then, Victory has remade itself into a $59 billion operation with an unusual business model that centralizes distribution, marketing and operations infrastructure for a series of acquired investment brands that it refers to as “Franchises.” “Our Franchises are operationally integrated, but are separately branded and make investment decisions independently from one another within guidelines established by their respective investment mandates,” the company said in its SEC filing. “Our integrated multi-boutique model creates a supportive environment in which our investment professionals, largely unencumbered by administrative and operational responsibilities, can focus on their pursuit of investment excellence.” In the same filing, the company said it sees “significant” opportunity for more acquisitions. It previously acquired Munder Capital Management, Compass Efficient Model Portfolios and RS Investments. Victory Capital, which dates back to 1894, plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol VCTR. J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Goldman Sachs and RBC Capital Markets are lead underwriters on the deal. No pricing terms were disclosed. Crestview will maintain majority voting control of Victory Capital following the offering.

Ganley adds iconic dealership with Central Cadillac deal

Fri, 03 Nov 2017 12:20:11 Z

Ken Ganley’s passion for cars is obvious. He loves selling cars, driving cars and just being around cars. So it’s no surprise that he jumped on the opportunity to buy Central Cadillac, one of Cleveland’s most iconic auto dealerships.

“It’s a third-generation business, which is highly unusual in our industry,” says Ganley. “Growing up in this business as a kid, I was always fascinated by Central Cadillac.”

Ganley acquired Central from Frank Porter, whose family has owned Central for 75 years. Chevrolet dealer Bob Serpentini was a partner in the acquisition, Ganley says.

The deal adds another brand to Ganley’s portfolio, in addition to a piece of downtown Cleveland’s automotive history. And that history means something to Ganley, who plans to leave the company name just as it is — Central Cadillac.

It’s that type of confidence – mixed with humility – that has helped Ganley build on the brand his father, Tom, started back in 1968. We’ll take a deeper dive behind the transaction in an upcoming Deal of the Week.

Reynolds, Abbey sell another tech business

Fri, 03 Nov 2017 12:10:05 Z

Serial tech entrepreneurs Brad Reynolds and Stephen Abbey have sold Cleveland-based Securable.io to Tampa, Fla.-based KnowBe4, in a deal that unites two IT security-related companies.

This is the fourth time that Reynolds and Abbey have both been involved in a tech startup that was sold. Reynolds was CEO and Abbey was chief revenue officer.

The pair connected in 1997 when Abbey hired the 19-year-old Reynolds as chief technology officer for Internet Access Group, an internet service provider. Abbey sold IAG a couple of years later. Reynolds pocketed some of the proceeds and went off to work for a series of larger tech companies.

Eventually the duo reunited in 2001 to found Expedient, a data center business that they sold four years later for a reported $30 million. Two years later, they were at it again with Mongoose Metrics, a call tracking software company that was sold in 2011 for an undisclosed sum.

Securable.io was founded in 2015 to provide cyber security software for small to medium-sized companies. Its twist was using a wide range of data sources to help build unique cybersecurity awareness training for individual employees within a business at a manageable cost.

“Data-driven cybersecurity education offers a significant benefit and we feel KnowBe4 is the perfect company to take the Securable offering to the next level,” Reynolds said in a statement. “We look forward to KnowBe4 utilizing this technology to help users make better security decisions.”

Reynolds has already started another company, Bluefin Security.

Fred Geis finally lands Western Reserve Building

Tue, 10 Oct 2017 07:02:02 Z

Developer Fred Geis finally got his hands on the Western Reserve Building in the Warehouse District.

WRB Partners LLC, a company led by Geis, paid $3.75 million to buy the building from John Ferchill's Reserve Building LP. Rico Pietro, a principal with Cushman & Wakefield/Cresco Real Estate, is a minority investor in the deal, which is expected to lead to renovations and continued use as office space.

Only about a third of the Western Reserve Building is presently occupied.

Geis, who reportedly had been eyeing the property as early as April of this year, has been a significant developer in Northeast Ohio. He and his family have raised or renovated an estimated 33 million square feet of space in 17 states, but their focus has been in Summit County, suburban Cuyahoga, Midtown and downtown Cleveland.

Last year, Geis sold his share of Geis Companies to brother Greg so he could focus on Hemingway Development, which Greg exited.

The deal also ends Ferchill’s long-running dispute with his lender for the building. Pending litigation between the parties has been jointly dismissed.