< Back to News

EFA in the News

News

EFA Partners Serves as Exclusive Sell-Side Advisor to Northshore Cinemas in Sale of Company to B&B Theatres

November 10, 2022

New York, NY (November 10, 2022) – EFA Partners, a boutique financial advisory firm that arranges capital and provides strategic consulting services for entertainment and media companies, announced today that it served as the exclusive sell-side financial advisor to Northshore Cinemas (“Northshore” or the “Company”) in the recently completed sale of the Company and all associated real estate assets to B&B Theatres (“B&B”).

A theatrical exhibitor in the Corpus Christi, TX market and surrounding areas since 1977, Northshore operated one 8-screen location in Portland, TX. This cinema was immediately transitioned to B&B operations upon closing of the transaction on November 7, 2022. EFA has maintained a positive, long-term working relationship with Northshore’s management team, having served as the Company’s strategic and financial advisor for several years in numerous capacities such as advising on financings and ultimately the sales process.

“I’ve worked with Brandt Gully and the team at EFA Partners for years, and they were the obvious choice for us when selecting a firm to sell our company,” stated Jeff Dinger, President of Northshore. “I’m always impressed at how well Brandt and his team know and love our industry, and I couldn’t me more pleased with how they found us a buyer in B&B that will take our cinema to the next level.”

EFA’s principals have over 50 years of collective experience in providing financial solutions for film exhibition companies, including M&A and advisory services. For Northshore, EFA adopted a tailored, results-oriented approach from start to finish— garnering interest from a selection of qualified potential buyers, negotiating terms and assisting with the transaction closing.

“It has been a pleasure to work with Jeff and the Northshore team over the years. He has had a fantastic career building his cinema business and serving the Portland and Rockport markets for years,” stated Brandt Gully, Managing Partner and Founding Principal of EFA Partners. “I’m excited that we were able to secure a well-capitalized buyer and get him a sales price that represented the full value of Northshore’s business and his years of hard work.”

About EFA Partners

EFA Partners is a boutique financial advisory firm with offices in New York and Atlanta focused on entertainment, media, and technology companies. It provides investment banking services focused on arranging growth capital, mergers and acquisitions, and financial consulting. In entertainment, its targeted sectors include movie theaters, family entertainment centers, theme parks, water parks, concert venues, hotels, casinos, sports, and others. In media and technology, EFA focuses on companies in film/television post-production, film/television distribution, communications services, recorded music, music publishing, and others. Since its inception in 2009, EFA has been retained by over 190 clients, has arranged over $1.6 billion of capital, and has advised on over $3.6 billion of additional capital.

About B&B Theatres

B&B Theatres has been family owned and operated since 1924 when Elmer Bills Sr. opened a movie house in Salisbury, Missouri where the future Mrs. Bills played the piano for silent movies. During the company’s 98 years, and four generations of family involvement, it has seen the coming of sound, color, Technicolor, stadium seating, multiplexes, and now digital cinema. B&B Theatres is the 5th largest theatre chain in North America and operates 529 screens at 57 locations in Kansas, Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington.

Leading provider of digital media services for film and television

Background: A seasoned management team who had previously worked with EFA while at their previous companies, formed a 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.  EFA ran the process including creating presentation materials and then approaching several banks and specialty lenders.

Result: Three closings including two financings to support two acquisitions and financing to provide working capital.

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

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT

                                                      Top ten film exhibitor in the U.S. based on screen count with 16 theaters across the Midwest

Background: Approached EFA to arrange financing, to refinance existing debt, and for growth of the business. Also engaged EFA to arrange a sale of the business.

EFA Process: EFA ran the process for all three assignments including preparing presentation materials and creating data rooms to manage the processes. For the debt process, approached several banks, specialty lenders, and REITs. For the sale process, approached strategic film exhibitors, private equity groups, and family offices.

Result: Three closings including a debt facility to refinance all existing senior debt, another debt facility to refinance existing debt as well as provide additional funds to acquire real estate at certain theaters, and then arranged the sale of operations to Kinepolis, a Belgium-based film exhibitor expanding its U.S. platform. 

start quoteThe EFA team has been our trusted financial advisor for the past several years. They have assisted us for a variety of assignments over the years including the refinancing of our debt, reviewing acquisition opportunities, and now the sale of our operations which, when closed, will provide an excellent outcome for our investors.end quote

Paul Glantz
Chairman of Emagine

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT

2nd largest U.S. operator of karting-based entertainment venues with 11 venues in the East and Midwest

Background: Approached EFA to arrange financing to refinance existing debt and for growth of the business. Also engaged EFA to arrange a sale of the business.

EFA Process: EFA ran the process for both assignments which included preparing presentation materials and creating data rooms to manage the processes. For the debt process, EFA approached several banks, specialty lenders, equipment financiers, and REITs. For the sale process, EFA approached strategic entertainment companies, private equity groups, and family offices.

Result: Three closings including a debt facility to refinance all existing senior debt and to provide growth capital which the company utilized to renovate and expand certain sites. Then arranged the sale of operations to K1 Speed, the largest U.S. operator of karting-based entertainment venues. K1 subsequently also acquired the real estate at one venue.

start quoteIt has been a pleasure working with Ralph Willis and the EFA team for the past several years. EFA was previously our advisor and successfully arranged our senior debt. Their understanding of the leisure sector and their industry relationships made them the logical choice to lead our sale effort which culminated in closing the sale to K1. end quote

Michael Greene
CFO and founding principal of Autobahn

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT

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

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT

                                                                              Operator of dine-in cinemas across the U.S.

Background: EFA has been engaged by Alamo corporate and several franchisees over several years for various assignments. These included  arranging construction financing for new venues and running the sale process for various theaters.

EFA Process: EFA ran the process for several assignments which included preparing presentation materials and creating data rooms to manage the processes. For the debt process, EFA approached several banks, specialty lenders, and equipment financiers. For the sale process, EFA approached strategic entertainment companies and private equity groups.

Result: Arranged construction and equipment financing for theaters in Texas, Colorado, and New York. In addition, served as sell-side advisor for two different franchisees and arranged the sale of seven theaters to two different film exhibitors.

start quoteEFA Partners and our team worked uniformly every step of the way to arrange a comprehensive financing solution that delivers greater financial flexibility to our two existing venues while also providing the necessary capital to build our newest Denver location. Brandt Gully, Ralph Willis and the EFA team have a deep understanding of the film exhibition industry and have proven to be reliable long-term partners as we continue pursuing our goals for sustained long-term growth.end quote

Dave Kennedy
Partner at Alamo Drafthouse

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT

 Waterpark in Houston owned by WP Ventures 

 

Background: Approached EFA to arrange financing to refinance existing debt and to finance a new attracion at the venue.

EFA Process: EFA ran the process which included preparing presentation materials and creating data rooms to manage the process. EFA approached several banks, specialty lenders, and REITs. 

Result: Arranged the financing with a bank at a very attractive rate that provided funding to refinance all exisiting senior debt and to provide funds for a new children's waterpark area.

start quoteIt was great working with Ralph Willis and the EFA team as they led our process to arrange financing. Their many years of experience in the leisure sector, plus their extensive relationships with financiers, allowed them to convey the highlights of our park and garnered interest from several financial groups. That provided for a competitive process to negotiate favorable financing terms to meet our financing needs. end quote

Terry Hlavinka
Partner at WP Ventures

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT

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.

end quote

 

David Tynan,
CEO of Huntington Broadcast Management Group

quote tail

NEXT CLIENT