The list of companies is long, but Mervyn's department store bankruptcy is a clear example of Sun Capital's modus operandi: Chicago Tribune 9/5/08:
A lawsuit filed this week as part of Mervyn’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization alleges that the retailer’s “valuable” real estate assets—store-owned locations and below-market leases—were stripped of their value and used partly to service the leveraged buyout debt.
Mervyn’s real estate was transferred to newly formed companies that, in turn, imposed a nearly 90 percent hike in rents, to $172 million annually, on the merchant, the suit alleges. The additional cost burden, combined with a soft economy, contributed to the bankruptcy filing in July of the 177-store retailer, it said.
“By separating Mervyn’s real estate assets from its retail operations, the private-equity players made sure that any residual value or upside in the real estate assets were reserved for themselves and not for Mervyn’s,” alleges the suit filed by Mervyn’s Holdings LLC and Mervyn’s LLC against its former private-equity owners and others. “The 2004 transaction is a transaction that ultimately led to Mervyn’s bankruptcy and is a fraudulent transfer that cannot withstand scrutiny.” |