Three BoyarMiller Client Transactions Named Finalists in ACG Houston Deal of the Year Awards

HOUSTON (April 21, 2020) – Three complex client transactions completed by BoyarMiller’s Business Group have been named finalists in the annual Deal of the Year awards program sponsored by the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Houston.

ACG Houston is focused on celebrating Houston’s booming middle-market deal community. Their mission is to honor the deals and dealmakers who drive middle-market growth resulting in job growth, capital formation and the advancement of meaningful business relationships. The awards ceremony will be held via video on April 28.

The three transactions BoyarMiller provided legal counsel for are in two categories: Consumer Goods and Services, and Technology & Business Services.

One finalist showcases our representation of Welcome Group, a Texas-based real estate development company, who formed a joint venture with a New York-based REIT allowing them to expand outside of Texas for the first time, as well as grow their portfolio to close to $1 billion. Bill Boyar led the BoyarMiller team and represented both the Welcome Group and the joint venture. The transaction was highly complex and involved multiple sets of attorneys, more than 20 lenders and 150 documents covering all aspects of debt structure, equity investment, corporate governance, and tax-efficient restructuring.

Bill Boyar subsequently led another BoyarMiller team that represented Amtel Partners LLC, an investment vehicle sponsored by Houston-based Priest Equities, LLC., in the purchase of Amtel, LLC., a leading T-Mobile Premium Retailer (TPR) with 152 locations across multiple U.S. geographies. An essential element of this transaction was to create a flexible capital structure with features that would enable Amtel Partners, led by CEO Andy Priest and President Jeff Bookout, to rapidly pursue near-term growth initiatives. This partnership positively positioned Amtel for continued growth through new store initiatives and in-system acquisitions and will allow them to reach areas that need to be served, giving customers more options, better service, and better coverage.

Our finalist in the Consumer Goods and Services category is Specialized Waste Systems. BoyarMiller Shareholder and Business Group Chair, Steve Kesten, represented the seller in this transaction and acted as their strategic partner throughout. Certain pre-close restructuring transactions were needed, which added to the overall complexity of the transaction, including moving the real estate whereat the company facility was located to a new company owned by the client in the most tax-efficient manner possible and then leasing the facility back to the company. The company was asset-intensive, many of which were subject to credit instruments and liens, requiring approximately 30 payoff letters.  Also, since the company was an obligor of the financing of the real estate that was moved out of the company, payoff of the real estate mortgage was required as part of the transaction, even though the Buyer was not acquiring such real estate. This purchase for the buyer was the perfect add-on acquisition for them as it helped expand the platform’s service line expertise, waste management capabilities and secure better rates at TSDFs (Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities) as well as recycling facilities, and fortified the combined company’s presence in the Southwest.

“We are very proud to have three client transactions included as finalists in ACG Houston’s Deal of the Year Awards. We have been very intentional to be the go-to firm for middle-market M&A transactions and we take pride in the fact that our clients trust us with such meaningful deals,” said Chris Hanslik, BoyarMiller Chairman. “We are certainly excited to see our clients receive this recognition, and we congratulate all nominees on their finalist ranking.”

About ACG
Founded in 1954, ACG is a global organization with 59 chapters and over 14,500 members. Doing business is at the heart of the ACG membership experience. Chapters in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia bring dealmakers together to help them achieve their business and professional goals. To learn more visit: www.acg.org/houston.

About BoyarMiller
BoyarMiller is a mid-size Houston-based law firm that advances client business goals by bringing new possibilities into focus with confidence and clarity to achieve extraordinary outcomes. Since 1990, we have been providing practical and smart business solutions. Our firm is comprised of two practice groups—business law and litigation—and we serve multinational companies, middle-market businesses, and entrepreneurs in need of collaborative and strategic representation. See boyarmiller.com for more information.