Miami – February 2017 – National financial advisors, REH Capital Partners and Algon Group, and Berger Singerman win the “Refinancing Deal of the Year” at the 11th Annual M&A Advisor Turnaround Awards for their collaboration on the more than $250MM restructuring and sale of the Peninsula Papagayo Resort in Costa Rica. The awards ceremony will take place on March 22-23, 2017 at The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach.

“We are honored to be recognized by such an esteemed organization for our work with Peninsula Papagayo Resort,” says Francis J. Nardozza, Chairman and CEO of REH Capital Partners. “To successfully complete the operational and debt restructuring, while managing a worldwide M&A process of this magnitude, really speaks volumes about the skills of our team.”

REH Capital Partners, Algon Group and Berger Singerman represented the former owner of the Peninsula Papagayo Resort (“Resort”) in Costa Rica with respect to the refinancing and sale of a majority interest in the Resort. It consists of a 1,400-acre luxury master development in Costa Rica, anchored by the 182-key Four Seasons Papagayo, an 18-hole Arnold Palmer-designed golf course, a clubhouse, the 180-slip Marina Papagayo and the 38,000-square foot Prieta Beach Club.

“The business solution which led to a recapitalization of the Resort is an accomplishment of which we are very proud,” adds Troy Taylor, President of Algon Group. “Not only does this showcase the expertise of all teams involved, but this deal will also have a lasting and positive effect on the surrounding region in Costa Rica.”

The Advisors directed a major turnaround in Resort operations, guided a significant bank debt restructuring, and advised on the recapitalization and sale of a majority ownership interest in the Resort. The deal entailed a multi-tiered funding structure and negotiation of two separate stock agreements transferring the capital stock for Costa Rican legal entities which owned concession rights in and to the land and in and to the Four Seasons hotel. Additionally, the firms completed the negotiation with Four Seasons with respect to their partial ownership of the Resort, and the negotiation of loan documents and other documents related to the transactions.

“This complex, cross-border case required a great deal of creativity and even more collaboration amongst various business entities including coordinating legal work by local counsel in Costa Rica, the British Virgin Islands, Bahamas and Panama,” said Robert W. Barron, a partner on Berger Singerman’s Business, Finance & Tax Team. “We are pleased with the successful management and execution of this deal.”

The complete Peninsula Papagayo Resort deal team included Barron, Jordi Guso, Phyllis S. Bean and Iryna Ivashchuk of Berger Singerman; Nardozza, Andrew Wharton, Paul Garity and Alina Cauce of REH Capital Partners; and Taylor, Luis Liberman, and Paul Rubin of Algon Group.

The Turnaround Awards nominations, representing more than 300 participating companies, were judged by an independent jury of industry experts. Submissions were judged based on the profile, benefits and challenges surrounding the deal.

The M&A Advisor was founded in 1998 to offer insights and intelligence on M&A activities. Over the past nineteen years, the M&A Advisor has established the premier global network of M&A, Turnaround and Finance professionals, and today, the M&A Advisor has the privilege of presenting, recognizing the achievements of, and facilitating connections between the industry’s top performers throughout the world with a comprehensive range of services.