Friday, May 7, 2010

CHICAGO – Aries Capital is pleased to announce that the firm’s Chicago office recently arranged a $15,500,000 non-recourse loan to finance the acquisition of a real estate portfolio of twenty-one KFC/Taco Bell stores located in the Southeast region of the United States.  This loan served as the major funding source for an overall M &A transaction involving a large KFC/Taco Bell Franchisee located in the Midwest.  The five-year fixed rate loan provided funding for 75% of the total acquisition costs and fees, and was structured to accommodate the resale of individual stores without a prepayment penalty.  Aries Capital’s Jeff Bucaro, Senior Vice President, originated the loan.  A consortium of credit unions provided the investment.

“This was a difficult funding request based on the loan size, leverage, structure, property type, and overall conditions in the debt markets,” said the Aries Capital originator, “but we were able to leverage our long-term relationship with our investor to highlight the solid fundamentals of the deal and obtain the funding commitment.”

The sponsor of the transaction was Heritage Capital Investments, LLC, led by Michael Christie, a veteran real estate investor, and Steven Madlinger, a veteran financial markets executive, both of whom are also based in Chicago.  “We chose Aries to lead the financing because of both our long-standing relationship with Aries and the fact we knew they could get the job done,” said Christie.  “Aries did a remarkable job at sourcing a well-suited lender for our acquisition in this difficult credit market.”