2010 TMA Turnaround of the Year Award Winners Announced

CHICAGO, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Turnaround Management Association (TMA) announced the five 2010 Turnaround of the Year Award recipients that will be honored at the 2010 TMA Annual Convention, October 7 at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes resort in Orlando, Fla.

Although the five winning turnaround teams have vast differences in their clients' products – from poultry to skis to furniture – they all share a common story of tremendous turnaround success and have bright futures thanks to the following award recipients:

Mega Company: William K. Snyder, CTP, CRG Partners Group, LLC; David W. Parham, Baker & McKenzie LLP; D. Michael Darland, CRG Partners Group, LLC; Winston Mar, CRG Partners Group, LLC; Richard A. Cogdill

• Pilgrim's Pride, an $8 billion vertically-integrated producer of uncooked, partially-cooked and full-cooked chicken products, was facing a multitude of problems including excess poultry supply and increased commodity prices. In stepped CRG Partners to take the company through bankruptcy and emerge a company transformed into a demand-driven, market-oriented business, achieving an EBITDA swing from negative $350 million (2008) to $504 million ($504). Read more.

Large Company: Rick Heller, CTP, Carl Marks Advisory Group; Bob Sacks, American Capital Strategies; Paul Travers, DiMaio Ahmad Capital LLC; Stephanie Parker, JPMorgan Chase Bank; Patrick Flynn, Conway MacKenzie, Inc.; Mike Lastowski, Duane Morris LLP

• Sleep Innovations, Inc., manufacturer of specialty sleep products, was enduring the nightmare of severe EBITDA decline, from $18.2 million (2007) to losses of $18.3 million (2008). Amidst a liquidity crisis, Carl Marks Advisory Group was hired and eventually took the reins of the company. They restored profitability and positive cash flow with a turnaround plan that included significant operational improvements, leading to a $48 million EBITDA improvement in only 12 months. Read more.

Mid-size Company: Jeffrey W. Dulberg, Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP; Teddy M. Kapur, Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP; Thomas S. Paccioretti, Broadway Advisors, LLC; Benjamin F. Cary, Broadway Advisors, LLC; Robert L. LeHane, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

• Z Gallerie, a family-owned home furnishings and decorative accessories retailer, was affected particularly hard by the recent economic downturn. With the help of their turnaround team, they refocused their sourcing, merchandising and pricing efforts to restore gross margins to historical levels (better than 50 percent) and reduce mark-down dependency. Z Gallerie emerged from Chapter 11 and delivered a 2009 EBITDA of $5.2 million, a 211 percent improvement over 2008. Read more.

Small Company: Marc Ross, Triax Capital Advisors, LLC; Bradly D. Schwab, Triax Capital Advisors, LLC; Joseph E. Sarachek, Triax Capital Advisors, LLC

• Agriprocessors, Inc. was the largest glatt kosher meat and poultry processor in the world with revenues in excess of $300 million per year in 2008. However, following a highly publicized immigration raid, senior management perpetrated a series of frauds that ultimately resulted in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. After successfully maximizing its value and enabling it to continue as a going concern, Triax Capital Advisors, LLC had not only helped save a company, but a small Iowa town as well. Read more.  

International Company: Douglas Rosefsky, Alvarez & Marsal; Johann Temim, Alvarez & Marsal; Alexandre Masson, Alvarez & Marsal

• Skis Rossignol SAS, the legendary French ski maker, was deeply in the red and rapidly deteriorating when it was acquired by a new ownership group in November 2008. With the company projected to run out of cash within months, Alvarez & Marsal was hired as CFO to develop and execute a daunting turnaround. In partnership with the new CEO, A&M led an aggressive, self-financed turnaround that enabled Rossignol to attract new capital and achieve breakeven EBITDA within 18 months, with this year's plan calling for double-digit positive EBITDA and a debt-free balance sheet. Read more.

The 2010 TMA Transaction Awards were announced on Friday, September 17. View the news release in the Newsroom at www.turnaround.org.

Chicago-based TMA, www.turnaround.org, has more than 9,000 members including turnaround practitioners, attorneys, accountants, investors, lenders, venture capitalists, appraisers, liquidators, executive recruiters and consultants.

SOURCE Turnaround Management Association