G2 announced today that Kirk A. Waldron has joined the firm as a Managing Director in the Restructuring & Revitalization group. Mr. Waldron represents an integral part of the firm’s continued dedication to expanding the restructuring advisory team to support clients across North America. Kirk will leverage his C-suite restructuring and leadership experience to strengthen G2’s service offerings. He will report to Ben Wright, Chief Operating Officer, and will be based in Los Angeles, CA.
“As we strive to continuously enhance the suite of services G2 Capital Advisors delivers to its clients, Kirk’s experience and skillset as a seasoned leader will be instrumental in expanding and diversifying our restructuring and insolvency capabilities, including Interim management work. Further, with Kirk being based in Southern California, we look forward to focusing on market expansion in what we believe to be an important region for growth across all of our services,” said Ben Wright, Chief Operating Officer and Leader of G2’s Restructuring & Revitalization Group.
“Kirk’s hiring meaningfully enhances our Restructuring & Revitalization platform,” said Matt Konkle, President of G2 Capital Advisors. “His distinguished reputation as a leader and track record of success across complex situational dynamics align with G2’s culture of operational excellence and a commitment to creating value for our clients.”
Mr. Waldron has over 35 years of experience leading companies as an executive (Chief Restructuring Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Executive Officer) and strategic advisor across various industry segments, especially business services and manufacturing. Kirk has extensive C-Suite leadership experience in public and private multi-location companies. Kirk specializes in operational and financial leadership, focusing on strategic and tactical assistance, change management, cost containment/reduction initiatives, turnaround, cultural integration, mentoring, and overall P&L/KPI development and monitoring. Over the course of his career, Mr. Waldron has successfully executed over 50 M&A transactions, countless credit facility negotiations, and supported over half a dozen high-profile distressed situations.
Kirk serves as Interim President for Marquee Event Group, a portfolio company of Dubin Clark and a client of G2 Capital Advisors. He is responsible for overseeing the executive management in running all facets of the company. Additionally, Kirk serves as a board member on behalf of Chair-man Mills Corp, Canada’s largest event rental company. Over his career, he has served on various public and private equity-backed boards.
Before joining Marquee Event Group as Interim President, Kirk spent five years running his advisory firm, Tres Palomas, Inc. Under his leadership, the firm supported various-sized clients across many industries as a financial advisor and management consultant focusing on corporate improvement, turnaround and restructuring, and interim management services. Before launching Tres Palomas Kirk spent meaningful time in C-suite roles at Qual-Pro Corporation, InfoSonics, Classic Party Rentals, SMTEK International, and AML Communications Inc. He began his career at Ernst & Young where he spent five years as an integral member of the Audit team.
Kirk holds a B.S. in Business Administration from The University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. He is also a licensed CPA (inactive) in the state of California.
THE 2023 BANKING FAILURES
Two weeks ago, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) became known as the second-largest commercial bank failure in the history of the United States. In the days that followed the collapse, global financial markets witnessed intense turbulence, with several additional dislocations in the bank and credit markets and mounting distress across institutions that had been struggling against the backdrop of a sharp rise in interest rates this past year. With rapidly evolving, dynamic capital markets combined with the media frenzy surrounding the global economy, many fear what could come next. Investors and business owners should focus on safeguarding their businesses for the future.
The G2 team supports its clients and industry partners regardless of circumstances. We guide companies through moments of complexity or rapid change through our deep operational experience and dedicated financial advisory expertise. Over the last 12 years, we have helped over 400 clients navigate complex situations across up and downtrend market cycles.
If you are seeking guidance or looking to better understand potential business implications of the present state of the economy, G2 is here to help. Our restructuring & insolvency, capital markets, investment banking, and interim management teams are ready to extend support through these uncertain times.
You are not alone. Here are some of the ways we can help:
- Our restructuring and insolvency advisors can help triage portfolio exposure and evaluate risk for borrowers/portfolio companies.
- Our capital markets team can secure additional financing to ensure your companies have sufficient liquidity.
- Our team of over 50 professionals is ready to support complex operational needs in helping your company proactively adapt to the changing environment, reduce costs, develop forecasts, and manage liquidity.
- We have a deep bench of interim management executives and subject matter experts to deploy as CEOs, CROs, or CFOs for short or long-term assignments to help your companies navigate the current environment.
Reach out to learn more about how we can support you today.
Our team focuses on assisting private equity partners by providing high quality deal flow, add on acquisition, capital markets and restructuring support. G2 continues to invest in the private equity community as trusted partners of choice.
2022 SELECT TRANSACTIONS COMPLETED WITH SPONSORS
PARTNERS FROM BEGINNING TO END.
G2 Capital Advisors provides M&A, capital markets, and restructuring advisory services to the middle market. We offer integrated, multi-product, and sector-focused services by pairing highly experienced C-level executives with specialist investment bankers. We aspire to be the trusted advisor of choice.
CAPABILITIES:
INDUSTRY FOCUS:
Record-breaking post-Holiday sales masked a marked slowdown in overall retail spending. Despite Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales surpassing $20 billion for the first time in history, U.S. retail spending experienced its most significant decline of the year, suggesting households are making strategic financial decisions as they plan for the road ahead. The economy remains at an unprecedented crossroads, with many questions looming:
Will inflation continue to slow, and how much further could interest rates rise? The Fed continues to raise rates at a slightly slower pace and has signaled its intention to continue doing so at least through the spring.
Will a slightly slowing economy morph into a full-blown recession, and will the labor market remain strong? While sales and margins show signs of softening, the labor market continues to defy expectations, making it hard for the Federal Reserve to further ease the policy. Layoffs in the technology, media and real estate industries make headlines. Still, they represent a minuscule portion of the labor force, with overall jobless claims falling by 20,000.
How much longer will pandemic-era savings and easing supply chains buttress consumer spending, and will they continue to spend more on necessities? While personal savings soared to nearly $6.5 trillion in 2020, they’ve since dropped to below $500 billion, lower than the $1.4 trillion pre-pandemic. Despite supply chain imbalances driving discount sales as retailers looked to shed excess inventory, consumers are focusing their budgets on food and other staples and spending less on holiday categories such as electronics, clothing, and sporting goods.
Ultimately, is a recession inevitable, and how bad might it get? This remains anyone’s prediction, but for business owners, management teams, and industry leaders, any level of uncertainty should be met head-on – waiting to seek clarity can be a losing move.
Connect with G2 to discuss your 2023 strategic objectives. At G2 Capital Advisors, deep sector and operational expertise underscore our dedication to achieving success at all costs. We support clients through both healthy market cycles and times of distress, with a refusal to fail. We provide highly tailored advice to company-specific circumstances in an ever-changing world. Reach out today to start the conversation.
G2 has had an exceptional start to the year, actively supporting over 95 engagements across four industries, serving investment banking and restructuring clients. The firm has made significant investments to expand our leadership functions across the organization with the addition of:
- Brian Steffens – Managing Director, Buy-Side Advisory
- Brian Schofield – Managing Director, Head of Capital Markets
- Jim Cotter – Managing Director, Industrials & Manufacturing
- Jereme LeBlanc – Director, Buy-Side Advisory
As we carry our momentum to the back half of 2022, G2 maintains a steadfast commitment to meeting the evolving needs of our clients across all stages of the business lifecycle. Whether executing strategic growth through M&A or supporting businesses troubled by unsustainable capital structures or challenging industry or operating conditions, G2 is your partner from beginning to end.
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Corporate life often mirrors personal experiences. The COVID-19 pandemic shook the foundations of our lives, prompting a series of unexpected consequences across both our personal and professional domains. At the onset of the pandemic, most people did not anticipate such a significant disruption that would last well over a year. Some have gained the “freshman 15 pounds” during quarantine due to limited mobility, lack of exercise, and extended periods in front of computer screens on zoom calls in sweatpants all day. And there are those who took the opportunity to refocus, establish discipline in their routine, and get in the prime shape of their life. This analogy can be applied to the corporate world as well. Leaning up your organization will remain critically important in this uncertain future.
CLIENT:
Arbre Group Holding Corporation (“AGH”) is a family-owned business that began in 2009 following the acquisition of the assets of Arbre Farms Corporation (“AFC”) and Willow Cold Storage Corporation (“WCS”, together with AFC, “the Company”). AGH has roots dating back to 1948 when Francis Marks founded a fresh produce company. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, including Paris Foods Corporation, Holli-Pac Inc. and Sun Mark Foods, AGH offers processing, re-packaging, distribution, and storage for a variety of frozen fruit and vegetable products.
SITUATION:
AGH was formed through a combination of frozen fruit and vegetable processing, re-packaging, cold storage, and distribution businesses across Central and Eastern U.S. G2 Capital Advisors, LLC (“G2”) was initially engaged by the Board of Directors of AGH to evaluate strategic alternatives for the Company in service of helping them realize their long-term vision, including a current state analysis of the business, assessment of potential growth opportunities and development of financial and operational alternatives. Following thoughtful consideration of the strategic alternatives, the Board of Directors engaged G2 to pursue partnership opportunities for its processing assets, allowing AGH to allocate resources to its core distribution businesses.
ENGAGEMENT:
G2 served as the exclusive financial advisor to AGH, leading an expedited, hands on process to evaluate partnership opportunities for AFC and WCS. G2 focused on identifying potential partners for the Company with deep operational expertise in food processing and who understand the value of the facility and assembled assets.
“The AGH team trusted G2 to run the process to support its long-term vision for its companies. It was a pleasure working with the AGH team to deliver the optimal outcome for AFC and WCS. We are excited about the future and look forward to watching the continued success of the Company with a highly capable partner in OPC.” said Don Van der Wiel, Managing Director for G2.
OUTCOME:
After evaluating various partnership options, AGH determined a carve out sale of the Company ultimately presented the best path forward for AFC and WCS. The transaction was successfully closed on April 30th, 2021 through a sale of AFC and WCS to Oregon Potato Company (“OPC”), and assigned to OPC Arbre Farms, LLC. The acquisition strengthens OPC’s position as a leader in the vegetable processing and distribution space to better serve its customers across North America.
“This outcome provides AFC and WCS with an opportunity to leverage OPC’s footprint, expertise, and relationships to accelerate growth and extend its reach in the frozen vegetable market. We thank G2 Capital Advisors for guiding us through this complex and detailed process. G2 acted as an extension of our team providing valued support and trusted advice throughout.” said Dylan Marks, President & CEO of AGH.
About Arbre Group Holdings:
Founded in 2009 with history dating back to the late 1940’s, AGH through its subsidiaries specializes in globally sourced frozen fruit and vegetable wholesale distribution, frozen produce importing, frozen vegetable processing, frozen produce re-packing, and cold storage services to the retail grocery, foodservice, and frozen food manufacturing companies throughout North America.
About G2 Capital Advisors:
G2 Capital Advisors provides M&A, capital markets and restructuring advisory services to the middle market. We offer integrated, multi-product and sector-focused services by pairing highly experienced C-level executives with specialist investment bankers. We aspire to be the trusted advisor of choice to our clients including corporations and institutional investors.
CONTACTS ON THIS DEAL:
Ben Wright, COO: E: [email protected]
Don Van der Wiel, Managing Director: E: [email protected]
Zach Talotta, Senior Associate: E: [email protected]
Kevin Lamb, Senior Analyst: E: [email protected]
Andrew Keleher, Vice President: E: [email protected]
G2’s unique team of seasoned C-level executives, restructuring advisors and investment bankers provide our clients with a clear path to long term operational stability, a sustainable capital structure, and the financial flexibility necessary to achieve their strategic goals. G2 generates substantial value for stakeholders through our operational and transactional capabilities and focus on risk mitigation.
“This recession will finally end the private-sector ‘debt super-cycle,’ says firm that invented the term” – MarketWatch, April 4th, 2020
Over the past decade, forecasters have been anxiously tracking rising corporate leverage levels and the proliferation of covenant-light loans, while lamenting the woefully declining credit quality of borrowers. Lenders could only “amend and pretend” for so long, they argued, and it would be just a matter of time before we witnessed an apocalyptic deleveraging event that would finally mark the end the current debt cycle. The sovereign debt crisis, tariff war, inverted yield curve, all came and went, but a global pandemic should have been the final straw. As infections and lockdowns spread in early 2020, commentators competed to see who could predict the biggest surge of bankruptcies and corporate defaults.
By Q3 defaults had fallen to below pre-COVID levels, and yields had declined dramatically across the board. In a shocking turn of events, debt issuance had surged to record levels, providing liquidity to healthy and distressed borrowers alike. The ultimate irony was, as S&P Global noted, investors “were so supportive that some of the corporate sectors that saw the largest increases in bond issuance relative to the prior five years were those most negatively affected by economic lockdowns.” Undeterred, commentators have now rolled forward their doomsday forecasts, bracing for an even bigger deleveraging and fallout in 2021. But what if we have collectively “broken” the corporate debt cycle? Consider the following three factors:
First, and foremost, is the Fed backstop, which involved unprecedented direct lending to both investment grade and distressed borrowers. Overnight, the Fed’s balance sheet nearly doubled to $7.4 trillion, all but ensuring that the Fed will be a permanent participant in private credit markets. Markets are inarguably in “risk on” mode, and it’s difficult to imagine any kind of crisis of confidence in the foreseeable future.
Second is the near-mythical “search for yield” and its side-effects, specifically the prolific rise of non-bank lending. Institutional investors, grappling with falling returns on fixed income and other assets, have pushed deeper into the private credit market. AUM at private debt funds has skyrocketed from under $200B in 2007 to nearly $900B, with $300B of dry powder waiting to be deployed. The new breed of lenders is more creative and better-equipped than traditional banks at segmenting and capturing risk premium at all levels of the capital structure. These investors, willing to take greater risks, were happy to put money to work during the pandemic, while banks battened down the hatches and sat on the sidelines. For these lenders, COVID has become a mere EBITDA adjustment, and most were willing to ride out the storm and “amend and extend” into 2021 leaving the search for yield poised to continue unabated into the future.
Last, but not least, is the evolution of lenders’ strategic options for dealing with distressed loans. Historically, a bank loan workout was a lengthy affair, with a forbearance or amendment followed by a two or three-year operational turnaround of the borrower. Today’s lenders prefer to move quickly to exercise their remedies. They are frequently turning to secondary debt sales, special-situation refinancings, carveouts or expedited sales of the company. Increased specialization means that there are buyers for every type of security, asset, and distressed business or division. For deeply troubled credits, options such as Article 9 foreclosures or Section 363 sales can be used as a tool to efficiently foreclose and sell viable assets at premium prices, and then wind down the remaining liabilities through either an in- or out-of-court process. As a top-tier middle market restructuring advisor, we employ these strategies (and more) every day on behalf of our clients, and have witnessed firsthand how lenders can now dynamically shift risks throughout this ecosystem. More and more, lenders rely on our firm to provide not only financial and operational support, but also integrated banking capabilities and increasingly advanced legal sophistication.
In sum, we could be witnessing the end of the broad-based credit cycle, and the start of a new era characterized by more complex, localized pockets of risk accompanied by fewer, but larger, distressed events. The current debt-cycle may live on for some time yet.
Konstantin A. Danilov is a Vice President at G2 Capital Advisors, which provides M&A, capital markets and restructuring advisory services to the middle market.
G2 Capital Advisors, LLC (“G2”), a leading full-service financial advisory firm, is pleased to announce that Christopher Capers has joined the firm as Managing Director within the Restructuring practice, with a focus on operational turnarounds. He will be located in the Southeast and reporting to Ben Wright, COO as he continues the growth & expansion of G2’s presence in the Southeast region. Christopher brings over 25 years of experience across executive leadership roles in corporate and entrepreneurial environments supporting healthy and stressed businesses. This appointment reflects G2’s continued investment in providing unparalleled operational capabilities to revitalize clients.
“Christopher’s extensive leadership experience enhances G2’s differentiated advisory approach, while also deepening our value creation proficiency in the industrials and manufacturing sector.” said Ben Wright, Chief Operating Officer of G2 Capital Advisors.
Christopher has specialized in operational restructuring and turnarounds through his comprehensive consulting and hands-on operational experience. Christopher has provided expert advisory guidance to companies requiring revitalization, including improving product profitability, reducing costs, managing pricing, building lean manufacturing, enhancing asset utilization, refining sourcing, and enhancing supply chains.
Before joining G2, Christopher was a senior Executive with Novolex Packaging, where he was Head of Operations Strategy and Continuous Improvement across a global manufacturing network. He championed operational excellence and lean manufacturing techniques to drive performance efficiency, establish manufacturing standards, and institute operational savings. In addition, he was responsible for warehouse distribution consolidation and M&A integration.
Prior to Novolex, Christopher served as a C-level Executive for multiple growth stage entrepreneurial ventures and a Director at AlixPartners Restructuring, leading value creation initiatives for private equity clients and various corporations in distressed or bankruptcy environments. Additionally, Christopher brings over a decade of experience in operational consulting with Booz Allen Hamilton.
“We are excited to welcome Christopher to the G2 team,” said Jeffrey Unger, Chairman & CEO of G2 Capital Advisors. “We continue to drive rapid growth across the G2 platform through this unique market environment. Christopher, as a Managing Director within Restructuring, will be a critical driver of our continued success as we enter 2021.”
Christopher holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.