FirstBank | nashvillepost.com

Beyond Halftime

Don't look for bank margins to rise much in '11 -- and expect more M&A chatter as a result

Jan 20, 2011 5:52 PM

Downtown parking altercation leads to lawsuit

Ex-husband of Wynonna Judd claims valet working at Marriott slugged him

Dec 15, 2010 12:26 AM

Deal hashed out in SouthEast Waffles case

Ex-CEO unable to regain all of contested collateral. Also: Opryland attraction tumble leads to suit and Chapter 7 filings from dentist and fencing venture. [From our print edition featured in Monday's City Paper]

Nov 27, 2010 7:33 PM

Old school

The latest issue of Bank Investment Consultant profiles Helene Colvin, an investment advisor now affiliated with First Bank in Murfreesboro and relying — as she has her entire career — primarily on digging deep into the stock market and finding names that work for her clients. Too bad the numerous mergers and acquisitions the former J.C. Bradford partner has been through have made focusing on her trade tricky at times.

She learned Raymond James had a program at a local community bank. "It was a settled place and a great deal of my clients moved with me," she says. But the tumult wasn't over. About two years ago, First Bank bought her bank and she had to convert to Invest's platform. About half of her current 700 clients have followed her through these various moves. "It feels like having the rug pulled out from under you, having to start all over again," she says. "You have to get clients to come with you, learn a whole new system, a new way of doing things... changing firms is painful!"

Nov 1, 2010 9:04 AM

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Bankruptcy report: Five business filings so far this week

Developer owes First Bank $2M; granite seller suffers $100K employee theft

Aug 11, 2010 3:04 PM

On discipline and difficult conversations

Bankers look ahead to life when the recession is really out of our system

Apr 29, 2010 2:52 PM

Dover Centre locks up three new leases

California landlord inks deals totaling 31,000 square feet

Apr 26, 2010 10:46 AM

Leadership tweaks at FirstBank

FirstBank has hired Christopher Holmes to be its chief banking officer, a new position at the $2.3 billion community bank. Holmes comes to FirstBank from South Carolina's South Financial Group and also has worked at National Bank of Commerce and Trustmark National Bank. Separately, FirstBank President and CEO Doug Cruickshanks said longtime exec Wib Evans has been named chief administrative officer, also a new position at the company. Evans, who was COO, will oversee the bank’s mortgage, investment, audit, compliance and risk functions.

Mar 17, 2010 9:20 AM

Executive Appointments: 11 January 2010

New CEO for Battle of Franklin Trust, research institute promotes four, operations hire for FirstBank, and more... [From our print edition featured in Monday's City Paper]

Jan 10, 2010 12:08 PM

Will creditors waffle over which bid to choose?

When Waffle House Inc. earlier this month introduced its plan to take control of a restructured SouthEast Waffles Inc. and lead the Nashville-based restaurant operator out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, its disclosure filing included one carefully worded paragraph, printed in all caps:

THE COMMITTEE, FIRSTBANK AND DEBTOR, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE PROFESSIONALS, HAVE PARTICIPATED ACTIVELY IN THE CASE, INCLUDING THE DRAFTING OF THE PLAN AND DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. THE COMMITTEE, FIRSTBANK AND THE DEBTOR’S CHIEF RESTRUCTURING OFFICER BELIEVES THAT THIS PLAN WILL RESULT IN A FAIR RETURN TO UNSECURED CREDITORS.

That's not quite a full-throated endorsement from secured creditor FirstBank and SEW's committee of unsecured creditors. It's legalese for "That's very nice, dear." Yesterday it emerged that FirstBank and the committee had reason to hedge their bets. An affiliate of Gaylord Sports Management, an Arizona firm privately owned by Gaylord Entertainment heir E.K. Gaylord II, has stepped in with what it says is a better offer for SEW's assets. Gaylord's venture includes golfer Phil Mickelson as an investor. Serving as CEO of the unit, GS Acquisitions LLC, is Terry Pefanis, former chief operating officer of Big Idea Inc., which created the VeggieTales kiddie entertainment franchise. In the reorganization plan it filed late yesterday, along with an accompanying disclosure statement, GS Acquisitions says it will pay a total of $20.2 million for the waffle seller's assets, with $4.8 million coming up front and the remainder paid out over time. Unsecured creditors would receive between 35 and 45 percent of their claims. In filing its own plan on July 6, Waffle House Inc., based in Norcross, Ga., offered to pay about $21.4 million for the assets over the course of ten years, with unsecured creditors due to get back between 25 and 38 percent of their claims. But its initial payment would be only $800,000, a sixth of what the Gaylord team is offering. The WHI plan and the GS Acquisitions plan include virtually identical provisions concerning the possible liability of longtime SouthEast Waffles CEO Jim Shaub and CFO Becky Sullivan for the losses that got the company into financial trouble in 2008. From the GS Acquisitions plan:

The Liquidation Agent, acting on behalf of Debtor's estate, may pursue Recovery Causes of Action against Lattimore, Black, Morgan and Cain, PC, and/or any of its current or former partners or shareholders in connection with auditing and other services provided to the Debtor, as well as professional and other obligations to the Debtor. The Liquidation Agent, acting on behalf of Debtor's estate, may also pursue Recovery Causes of Action related to payments to the Debtor's Chief Manager, Shaub, as well as the actions and management of the Debtor by Shaub and the Debtor's former Chief Financial Officer, Rebecca Sullivan, including without limitation any actions and omissions which had the effect of the Debtor, creditors, or other parties-in-interest suffering damages.

A hearing on the Gaylord plan is set for Aug. 11 in Nashville's U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Bill Norton of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings represents GS Acquisitions.

Jul 22, 2009 3:44 PM