HOUSTON — Berkadia has added a new multifamily investment sales team to its Houston office with the hiring of Chris Curry, Todd Marix, Joey Rippel and Chris Young, all of whom are joining the company from JLL. The team works with a diverse client base, including institutions, private capital, developers, special servicers and government institutions across all multifamily asset classes. Berkadia’s hiring of a new Houston multifamily investment sales team from JLL follows the departure of a longstanding, eight-member team to Walker & Dunlop earlier this month.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and entered into an asset purchase agreement with its group of senior lenders that is led by California-based Altamont Capital Partners and Fortress Investment Group. The agreement involves the sale of “substantially all” of the company’s assets, though it remains unclear how many of its 41 theaters Alamo Drafthouse plans to close. As part of its filing, Alamo Drafthouse has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to approve a 75-day timeline for restructuring its debt and has secured $20 million in debtor-in-possession financing from its creditors to cover operational costs during that period. The company, which operates some of its theaters and franchises others, cited the COVID-19 pandemic’s “unprecedented and outsized impact upon the movie theater and dining industries” as the central driver behind its decision. Alamo Drafthouse, founded in Austin in 1997, was one of first entertainment concepts to bring elevated food and beverage offerings into the theater space.
IRVING, TEXAS — Affiliates of Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE: APO) have entered into an agreement to buy discount retailer Michaels (NASDAQ: MIK) and take the company private in a deal that is valued at approximately $5 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Apollo will tender an offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Michaels common stock for $22 per share in cash. The purchase price represents a 47 percent premium over the Irving-based arts and crafts retailer’s closing stock price on Feb. 26, the last trading day prior to press speculation about a potential transaction involving Michaels. The deal is expected to close during the first half of Michaels’ fiscal year. “Michaels has continued to elevate its position as the leading player in the exciting arts and crafts industry,” said Andrew Jhawar, Apollo Global Management’s senior partner and head of retail and consumer group. “We believe there is a significant opportunity to enhance the Michaels brand, store experience and omnichannel offering to its customers across North America.” Michaels currently operates about 1,250 stores across the United States and Canada and employs approximately 45,000 people.
HOUSTON — Walker & Dunlop has hired a former Berkadia multifamily investment sales team to its Houston office that consists of Ryan Epstein, Jennifer Ray, Nathan Jones, Scott Bray, Leslie Ginzel, Lauren Ehlers, Jamie VanWunnik and Chris Cassidy. The team, led by Epstein and Ray, brings approximately 30 years of multifamily investment sales experience within the Houston market to Walker & Dunlop. Epstein and Ray have transacted more than $7.5 billion in apartment sales over the course of their careers.
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. — CapRock Partners has acquired, leased or sold nearly 10 million square feet of industrial space across the Western United States and opened two offices in Phoenix and Northern California, welcoming 26 new employees, according to the Newport Beach-based firm. CapRock Partners signed 10 leases totaling more than 5.3 million square feet; acquired eight properties and land sites totaling 4.2 million square feet; and sold 196,534 square feet across two properties. Additionally, an institutional investor retained the company to manage a six-asset, 1.9 million-square-foot industrial real estate portfolio that spans four markets. These transactions bring CapRock’s total investment, development and asset management pipeline to more than 25 million total square feet since inception in 2009. On the development side, the company completed more than 4.1 million square feet of Class A industrial product across the Las Vegas basin and Inland Empire, including the 3 million-square-foot Commerce Center in Ontario, California, which CapRock developed on behalf of Ivanhoé Cambridge. Since March 2020, the company started construction of an additional 2.8 million square feet and successfully received entitlements for over 3 million square feet in multiple projects across the Inland Empire. This brings CapRock’s total either recently constructed or …
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Louisville-based Papa John’s International Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) reported that net sales for the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter 2020 totaled $469.8 million, a 12.5 percent increase from its fourth-quarter 2019 revenue and better than what Wall Street experts predicted, according to CNBC. Total revenue in fiscal 2020 exceeded $1.8 billion, a 12 percent improvement from 2019 amid what president and CEO Rob Lynch dubbed “one of the most challenging years in history.” (Papa John’s fiscal 2020 ended on Dec. 27.) CNBC reports that the pizza chain’s quarterly earnings fell short of expectations based on a survey conducted by Refinitiv, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group. Papa John’s may have missed the mark for the quarterly estimates due to higher food production costs, a new corporate office and employee bonuses, according to the news outlet. Papa John’s opened a new Atlanta office in the fourth quarter, and also gave $2.7 million to its front-line team members as an end-of-the-year bonus. Refinitiv survey takers predicted Papa John’s should have made 46 cents per share instead of the actual 40 cents it earned in the fourth quarter. Worldwide, Papa John’s comparable store sales increased 15.5 percent in the fourth quarter. …
ATLANTA AND MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Atlanta-based Home Depot and Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe’s Cos. Inc. both had strong fourth-quarter sales despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The CEOs of both firms cited increased demand for home improvement products as the catalyst behind their sales jumps. Home Depot’s (NYSE: HD) sales increased 25 percent year-over-year for its 2020 fiscal fourth quarter, which CNBC reports outperformed the 19.2 percent growth that analysts were expecting. Home Depot’s fiscal fourth-quarter 2020 ended on Jan. 31, 2021. Home Depot’s digital sales rose 83 percent in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago. Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) sales increased 28.1 percent in the fourth-quarter fiscal year 2020, which also outstripped expectations of 22 percent growth, according to CNBC. Lowe’s fiscal fourth quarter 2020 ended Jan. 29. The retailer’s e-commerce sales jumped by 121 percent, while all merchandising departments saw 16 percent growth. According to CNBC, Home Depot gets 45 percent of its sales from professionals, such as electricians and contractors, while the rest come from unprofessional, do-it-yourself customers. This was higher than Lowe’s, which gets 20 to 25 percent of its total sales from professional individuals.
BETHESDA, MD. — Marriott International Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) has named Tony Capuano as the new CEO. This news follows the recent death of previous CEO, Arne Sorenson. Marriott also named Stephanie Linnartz as its new president. Linnartz was previously the Marriott group president in charge of consumer operations, emerging businesses, and technology. Capuano has been with the Marriott for 25 years, and he will be the company’s fourth CEO. He is taking over the hotel corporation at a time where the travel and hospitality industry is suffering due to travel restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an article by The Wall Street Journal, Capuano stated that he plans to run the Marriott in a similar way as Sorenson did. Before Sorenson was diagnosed with cancer, he would be on the road for more than 200 days a year for work.
NEW YORK CITY — Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) reported fourth-quarter results that exceeded the company’s expectations, thanks to 21 percent year-over-year growth in digital sales across all of its brands. In addition, the department store chain reported that comparable in-store sales during the period that included the holiday shopping season were down 17 percent. However, that performance beat the company’s projections, and contributed to Macy’s posting its first profitable quarter in a year, CNBC reported. Product categories such as home beauty and jewelry led the pronounced spike in digital sales, and Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said that the company anticipates that within the next three years, it will reach $10 billion in annual online revenue. In February 2020, the company announced that it planned to close 125 underperforming stores, or about 20 percent of its total count, by early 2023. Macy’s stock price opened at $15.31 per share on Tuesday, Feb. 23, down slightly from $15.68 per share a year ago.
ATLANTA — Airbnb plans to open a technical hub in Atlanta by the end of 2021. The company did not disclose what area of Atlanta that it is going to occupy. The San Francisco-based lodging company originally made plans to open the hub in 2019 but had to stop development due to travel restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, Airbnb had to let 25 percent of its team go. Now that travel is picking up again, Airbnb has decided to move forward with its East Coast expansion. Airbnb anticipates the hub will be home to one of its product developments teams and will become the regional base for hundreds of technical and non-technical roles over time. Atlanta was the city that Airbnb choose due to many factors, including strong educational infrastructure and supporting communities of color. If any economic incentives or credits are associated with the East Coast hub location, Airbnb plans to donate them back to Atlanta for community impact initiatives.