News & Insights
REH Capital Partners, Algon Group and Berger Singerman Win M&A Advisor Latin America Deal of the Year
July 5, 2017
Firms honored during M&A Advisors’ 9th Annual International M&A Awards for the multi-national restructuring and sale of Peninsula Papagayo Resort
MIAMI, Fla. – July 06, 2017 – National financial advisors, REH Capital Partners and Algon Group, and Berger Singerman, Florida’s business law firm, won the “Latin America Deal of the Year” at M&A Advisors 9th Annual International M&A Awards for their collaboration on the multi-national restructuring and sale of the Peninsula Papagayo Resort in Costa Rica. The awards ceremony took place on June 12, 2017 at The New York Athletic Club.
“Our success in this matter hinged on the collaboration, creativity and strategic thinking of all of the parties involved in this complex, cross-border case, and to be recognized for our work is the ultimate achievement,” said Francis J. Nardozza, Chairman and CEO of REH Capital Partners.
REH Capital Partners, Algon Group and Berger Singerman represented the former owner of the Peninsula Papagayo Resort (“Resort”) in Costa Rica with respect to the refinancing and sale of a majority interest in the Resort. It consists of a 1,400-acre luxury master development in Costa Rica, anchored by the 182-key Four Seasons Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo, an 18-hole Arnold Palmer-designed golf course, a clubhouse, a 180-slip Marina Papagayo, the 38,000-square foot Prieta Beach Club, seven development parcels and a number of homesites. The deal also won the “Refinancing Deal of the Year” at the 11th Annual M&A Advisor Turnaround Awards earlier this year.
“We are honored to be recognized once again by M&A Advisors and to be included amongst the winners of the International M&A awards, who represent the best of international M&A and who are redefining our industry,” adds Troy Taylor, President of Algon Group. “By finding a business solution, which included debt restructuring and recapitalization, for this massive deal, our team was able to stand out in a group of impressive finalists.”
The Advisors directed a major turnaround in Resort operations, guided a significant bank debt restructuring, and advised on the recapitalization and sale of a majority ownership interest in the Resort. The deal entailed a multi-tiered funding structure and negotiation of two separate stock agreements transferring the capital stock for Costa Rican legal entities which owned concession rights in and to the Four Seasons resort and in and to the other components of Peninsula Papagayo. Additionally, the firms completed the negotiation with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts with respect to their partial ownership of the Resort, and the negotiation of loan documents and other documents related to the transactions.
“By joining forces and blending all of our unique expertise and insights, we successfully completed the operational and debt restructuring, while executing this multifaceted, international M&A deal,” said Robert W. Barron, a partner on Berger Singerman’s Business, Finance & Tax Team. “Peninsula Papagayo Resort, along with the surrounding region in Costa Rica, will benefit from this deal for years to come.”
The complete Peninsula Papagayo Resort deal team included Barron, Jordi Guso, Phyllis S. Bean and Iryna Ivashchuk of Berger Singerman; Nardozza, Andrew Wharton, Paul Garity and Alina Cauce of REH Capital Partners; and Taylor, Paul Rubin and Luis Liberman,
The International M&A Award nominations, representing more than 260 companies in every major market in the world, were judged by an independent jury of M&A industry experts. Honored at the gala were leading deal teams, firms and professionals whose activities set the standard for international M&A transactions.
The M&A Advisor was founded in 1998 to offer insights and intelligence on M&A activities. Over the past nineteen years, the M&A Advisor has established the premier global network of M&A, Turnaround and Finance professionals, and today, the M&A Advisor has the privilege of presenting, recognizing the achievements of, and facilitating connections between the industry’s top performers throughout the world with a comprehensive range of services.
