TSL Express Daily News

Melville-based firm also shares in separate ‘Deal of the Year’ awards honoring GNC, Guitar Center and Tuesday Morning transactions.

For the second straight year, A&G Real Estate Partners—an advisory firm specializing in lease restructuring, real estate sales and auctions nationwide—was named ‘Real Estate Restructuring  Firm of the Year’ at the 13th Annual Turnaround Atlas Awards, a virtual event held from June 23-25.

The program from Global M&A Network honored consequential, value-creating transactions completed during 2020 from the restructuring, investing and insolvency communities, as well as  individuals and firms from the investment banking, turnaround, professional and advisory fields.

Beyond the honor for its body of work during 2020, the Melville, N.Y.-based A&G was also cited during the ceremonies for its real estate advisory efforts on three ‘Deal of the-Year’ transactions: GNC Holdings’  Chapter 11 restructuring and acquisition  by Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, which won in the Cross-Border Special Situation  M&A Deal-Large category; Guitar Center’s Chapter 11 financial restructuring, recapitalization and equity investment  by Ares Management Corp., Brigade Capital Management and The  Carlyle Group, which won in the Private Equity Deal-Large Markets   category; and  Tuesday Morning’s Chapter 11 restructuring, a winner in the Corporate Turnaround-Large category.

“A&G’s ‘Real Estate Restructuring Firm of the Year’ award recognized the pivotal role the firm played in helping healthy and distressed retail, restaurant, fitness, entertainment and other companies navigate through the unique challenges created  by Covid-19,” said Shanta Kumari, CEO of Global M&A Network. “Their efforts helped save thousands of stores from closure and generated $2.0 billion in occupancy cost savings for clients. This was a momentous accomplishment in an extraordinary year.”

Over the course of 2020, A&G handled negotiations on behalf of 61 clients on 13,500 leases across the country, reducing rents on 10,450 and securing terminations on 950. Co-Presidents Emilio Amendola and Andy Graiser—along with about 35 A&G executives, staff members and consultants—worked nights and weekends throughout the year to attain those results.

“Our work at the negotiating table provided liquidity that was critical to the ongoing strategies of multiple household names in retail, including several that successfully reorganized under Chapter 11 and others seeking to get their occupancy costs under control,” said Amendola.

He went on to note that the firm’s in-depth portfolio reviews helped guide critical decisions about co-tenancies, lease clauses, store closures and how to align occupancy costs with the transformed environment. “These reviews allowed our clients to optimize their entire real estate portfolio in a period marked by complete, mandated shut-downs, re-openings, closures, and declining store traffic and sales,” Amendola said.

In accepting A&G’s ‘Real Estate Restructuring Firm of the Year’ award,’ Graiser told the online audience of bankers, professionals and advisors: “I’m not sure there’s an assemblage of people that could have worked more tirelessly than the group of professionals on this call. We all got thrown into a crisis that none of us ever experienced, and we were tasked to figure it out and come up with best practices. We were all able to get through it, coming up with some special sauce that helped our clients survive. My congratulations to all of our winners.”

About the Awards: The independently governed Turnaround Atlas Awards honor best value-creating transactions, outstanding firms, professionals and leaders from the global restructuring, insolvency, and distressed investing communities.

About the Host:  Privately and women-owned, Global M&A Network is a media, information and events firm. For the past 13 years, the New York-based company has produced the world’s most prestigious M&A Atlas Awards, Turnaround Atlas Awards, Women Leaders & Dealmakers Atlas Awards. For details, visit: https://globalmanetwork.com/ 

About A&G Real Estate Partners

A&G is a team of seasoned commercial real estate professionals and subject matter experts that delivers strategies designed to yield the highest possible value for clients’ real estate. Key areas of expertise include occupancy cost reductions, lease terminations, dispositions, real estate sales, real estate due diligence, valuations, acquisitions, and facilitation of growth opportunities. Utilizing its marketing knowledge, reputation and advanced technology, A&G has advised the nation’s most prominent retailers and corporations in both healthy and distressed situations. The firm’s team has achieved rent-reduction and occupancy-cost savings approaching $8 billion on behalf of clients in every real estate sector, while selling more than $12 billion of non-core properties and leases. Founded in 2012, A&G is headquartered in Melville, N.Y. For more information, please visit: http://www.agrep.com/