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EFA Arranges $25 million Growth Financing for Latitude Global

March 1, 2012

ANNOUNCEMENT (March 2012) -- EFA Partners, an entertainment financial advisory firm focused on arranging financing for the film and leisure sectors, announced that it arranged a $25 million financing facility for Latitude Global, Inc., a Jacksonville-based restaurant/entertainment firm with an exciting concept that combines excellent dining, live events, bowling, arcade games and other entertainment attractions all in one upscale venue.    The proceeds from the financing will be utilized to further develop Latitude Global’s 46,000 sq. ft. location in Jacksonville and will also be utilized to develop new sites in Indianapolis and Chicago that are planned to open later this year.


“It’s been great to have EFA as a strategic financial partner as we execute on our growth plans,” said Brent Brown, CEO and founder of Latitude Global. “Their extensive financial backgrounds and relationships combined with their years of experience providing financing for entertainment venues makes them a real asset for our team and we look forward to continuing the relationship.”


EFA’s principals have over thirty years of collective experience in entertainment finance and have deep relationships with capital providers to the industry.  They concentrate on the needs of various sectors including family entertainment centers, film exhibition, theme parks/waterparks, digital cinema, film service companies, and others.  The EFA team prides itself on providing its clients with a broad range of financing alternatives and leading the effort from the initial stages through to closing.


“We are thrilled to be working with Latitude Global and feel their concept provides an excellent mixture of great dining and entertainment attractions for all ages”, stated Kenny Favre, a founding partner with EFA Partners. “We look forward to helping them execute on their growth strategies as they bring their exciting concept to cities throughout the country.”

 

ABOUT EFA PARTERS

EFA Partners is a specialized advisory and financial consulting firm focused on providing services in select entertainment industries including the film and leisure sectors.  EFA was founded by Kenny Favre, Ralph Willis and Brandt Gully, three former executives of GE Capital’s entertainment group, who collectively have over 40 years ofentertainment finance experience and have closed and managed more than $3 billion in entertainment transactions.  The group’s focus is to lead its clients’ efforts with arranging senior debt, equipment leasing, junior capital, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and general business strategy.  EFA’s offices are located in New York and Atlanta. For additional information, visit EFA’s web site at www.efapartners.com.

ABOUT LATITUDE GLOBAL

LGI is a privately-held, independent, full-service restaurant/entertainment company founded in 2009 to plan, develop, construct and operate state-of-the-art, 40,000 to 100,000 square foot premier entertainment venues. LGI  and its  future  locations,  fuse  the  magic  of  an exceptional  food  and  beverage  experience  with multiple entertainment options in an upscale and contemporary designed venue.   Latitude 30 (www.Latitude-30.com), the flagship location opened in January 2011, Latitude 39 in Indianapolis, IN and Latitude 40 in Pittsburgh, PA are scheduled to open in 4th quarter 2012.   Our first hybrid location, Latitude 41 in Chicago, IL is expected to open in August 2012 and will occupy 34,000 square feet within an existing Regal Cinemas megaplex.   To watch a two minute LGI corporate overview, please visit  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUwoFazl3rg.

Leading provider of digital media services for film and television

Background: Seasoned management team formed new film and television digital media services company and approached EFA to arrange financing for potential acquisition targets.

EFA Process: The company retained EFA to arrange acquisition financing and EFA approached several banks and specialty lenders.

Result: Closed debt financing to support two company acquisitions and working capital facility.

start quoteWe selected EFA as our advisor due to their financial experience specific to the film and television services sector. The past year has been tremendous for us as we significantly grew our business with EFA arranging financing that allowed us to execute on our growth plans very quickly. end quote

John Suh
Co-Founder and Co-President of  Pixelogic

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Television broadcast company owning and operating WGGB-TV and WGGB-TV D2, the ABC and FOX network affiliates serving the Springfield-Holyoke, MA market

Background: Initially approached by Gormally Broadcasting to arrange financing to recapitalize the company and fund planned acquisition growth. EFA became company’s sell-side advisor when industry changes and market forces made exploring a sale a more advantageous and financially rewarding strategic option for the company.

EFA Process: EFA was successful in securing financing commitments to fund a recapitalization and several acquisitions during the initial engagement focus. However, marketplace dynamics noted above resulted in EFA recommending a company sale. EFA provided a tailored, results-oriented approach from start to finish.

Result: EFA identified Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) as the leading buyer and managed all aspects of the sale, maximizing the sales price received for the company.

start quoteIt was a pleasure working with Dave Harrington and the team at EFA. Through Dave’s deep industry knowledge, relationships and marketplace expertise, we were able to maximize the ultimate value of our company’s broadcast assets. end quote

John Gormally,
Founder, Owner and President of Gormally Broadcasting

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Growing movie theatre company that provides an in-theatre dining experience with over 300 screens throughout the US

Background: Longtime client that initially approached EFA seeking junior capital to grow its business.

EFA Process: After reviewing the company's capital structure and growth plans EFA recommended a financing structure that would recapitalize the company and provide significant growth capital.

Result: Closed three financings that recapitalized the company and provided growth for new theatres. Studio Movie Grill also retained EFA for M&A opportunities and to assist with restructuring process.

start quoteWe were delighted to work with the EFA Partners team on our second successful financing with them. Their wide range of capital markets experience, banking relationships and deep knowledge of the cinema and location-based entertainment industries made them the perfect choice to assist with our financing efforts, which support SMG's active growth strategy. end quote

Brian Schultz,
Owner, founder and President of Studio Movie Grill

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Television and motion picture post-production and digital content management services

Background: Company approached EFA seeking refinancing of its debt subsequent to other advisors attempting to do so with a combination of senior debt and equity.

EFA Process: After reviewing its capital structure EFA recommended a debt structure to fully refinance the company's debt.

Result: Closed senior debt facility that refinanced the company's existing debt, which was much more cost-effective than equity.

start quoteThe EFA team proposed a creative strategy to recapitalize Modern VideoFilm that met our needs in a way that was unique and different from what other financial advisory firms proposed to us. We appreciated their understanding of the entertainment industry and EFA's extensive financial relationships and we look forward to continuing our relationship. end quote

Moshe Barkat,
CEO and President of Modern VideoFilm

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Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's well established movie theatre company - with almost 300 screens located throughout the US

Background: Landmark approached EFA for an equipment financing to convert its screens from 35mm to digital projection.

EFA Process: While the company had many financing options given its strong ownership, its management was busy with business operations and retained EFA to handle the digital conversion financing process.

Result: Closed equipment financing facility utilized for all of its digital projectors. EFA led all aspects of the financing including negotiation of complex digital cinema conversion agreements.

start quoteEFA's unique knowledge and experience with film exhibition and digital cinema was extremely helpful in leading our financing process. Landmark prides itself in providing the best customer experience to its patrons and we are excited that this financing will allow us to continue that with our digital conversion. end quote

Sky Hansen,
Chief Financial Officer of Landmark Theatres

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Provider of digital information services to the film industry

Background: Company approached EFA seeking funding to refinance debt and provide growth capital.

EFA Process: After reviewing its capital structure and growth plans, EFA approached the specialty lender market and arranged debt facility. Subsequently, company retained EFA as sell-side advisor. 

Result: Arranged debt for refinaning existing debt and for growth. Also, handled sale process from start to close for successful sale of business.

start quoteIt was a pleasure to work with the team at EFA Partners who served as our advisor on the sale of West World Media. Through deep industry knowledge, relationships and marketplace expertise, we were able to achieve a successful outcome. end quote

Brett West
Founder and President of West World Media

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Television industry management group formed to manage and operate US TV stations

Background: Huntington approached EFA seeking capital for potential television station acquisitions.

EFA Process: EFA understood that private equity firms and lenders are seeking experienced management teams to back for acquisition opportunities in the television sector.

Result: EFA has introduced the company to several private equity firms as well as senior lenders, resulting in bids for groups of television stations and the company continues to seek other opportunities, with EFA’s assistance.

start quoteWe are acutely aware of the trends that are transforming the local broadcast TV business and have recently begun to explore opportunities to acquire stations. We are very excited about the prospects for the industry and the opportunities to capitalize upon. We are also pleased to have EFA Partners as our financial advisor as their many years of media industry experience and extensive financial relationships will help us accomplish our goal of building a best-in-class station group.

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David Tynan,
CEO of Huntington Broadcast Management Group

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