FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2017
About The Boathouse Group
The Boathouse Group (www.boathouseva.com) was founded by its current owner/operator Kevin Healy. Over the past 25 years it has grown to six locations in the Greater Richmond area. The Company’s two brands, The Boathouse and Casa Del Barco, have frequently received accolades of recognition at the local and national levels for their food, facilities, and quality of service.
The Relationship
When Healy initially approached George Sydnor, Senior Vice President of Transact Capital, in 2008, he was running a successful flagship restaurant on the Swift Creek reservoir just southwest of Richmond at Sunday Park in Brandermill. Kevin was trying to execute on his vision to open a second location at the historic Rocketts Landing on the James River in Richmond. Even with his industry experience and profitable flagship restaurant, traditional lenders turned down his request for expansion capital for a second location.
Understanding the challenges of the situation, George Sydnor advised the breakup of the project into two phases, thus allowing the expansion to move forward in a more manageable manner and providing for cash flows from the new proposed Phase I to then support continued growth anticipated with Phase II.
With Transact Capital’s help, Healy was able to secure SBA funding through Sonabank for execution of the Phase I build-out, which was completed in the 2nd half of 2009. The success and high volume that was a result of opening Rocketts Landing emphasized the importance and necessity of a quick timeline to continue the development of the Rocketts Landing facility, and Phase II was financed and completed shortly thereafter in late 2010 with additional SBA funding.
The next addition to The Boathouse family was Casa Del Barco (Spanish for Boathouse), an upscale Mexican restaurant on the James River & Kanawha Canal. Once more, Sonabank funded the build-out for Casa Del Barco and the third Boathouse location opened at the beginning of 2013 which has been met with growing success.
Shortly after opening of the original Casa Del Barco location, Healy again approached Transact Capital in pursuit of refinancing the long term real estate loan on his original flagship location, as well as to obtain additional working capital for his growing enterprise and to further expand his flagship operation with enhanced improvements. Throughout the process it became clear that a new financing structure was needed to support those goals. George Sydnor and the Transact Capital team found a quality lender in VantageSouth Bank who furnished an omnibus loan package that provided The Boathouse with a restructured and stronger balance sheet, reduced its monthly debt service obligations, and also provided available access to substantially more capital.
Healy’s success and continued vision of growth once again manifested itself in 2014 when the opportunity to enter into Short Pump Town Center, the fifth largest mall in the U.S. in terms of “foot count”, presented itself. The Transact team went immediately to work and financing was secured through Stearns Bank for the new Boathouse–Short Pump project. Opening mid-2015, this new venue was an instant success with Healy later remarking: “we knocked the socks off the ball with this one.”
Next up, a new opportunity for Casa Del Barco emerged in late 2016 when a new location, also in Short Pump Town Center, emerged. Once again Kevin engaged Transact Capital to arrange financing for this expansion of Casa and to refinance all of the company’s existing debt under one loan package. This was accomplished through Park Sterling Bank, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, which provided the requested $6.1 million in June 2017.
Kevin Healy commented on this fifth consecutive successful financing “Thanks and a good job by both George Sydnor and the Transact team; having confidence in your ability to help me find the financing allows me the possibility to ‘dream’ and to turn those dreams into reality.”
As to the future, Healy sees only a bright future ahead for the Boathouse. He further commented: “until now I was just running a company, now I am truly building a company and establishing the Boathouse brand identity to signify excellence in dining. And in doing so, we also create many career paths for our entire team”.
“Kevin Healy has provided Transact Capital with a number of strong testimonials, but what is most important is that he has remained a client of Transact Capital for almost ten years and through five transactions,” commented George Sydnor. “Coming out of this partnership is a Boathouse experience that has gained popularity and growth over the years and is now a Richmond-area go-to evening venue. And we have more to come down the road as Kevin continues to fulfill his dream. We are proud to be part of it.”
About George Sydnor and Transact Capital
George Sydnor heads up the Roanoke office of Transact Capital in addition to working with many Richmond-based clients. He has completed many financing transactions for his clients where conventional financing is not available.
Transact Capital Partners is a full-service mergers and acquisitions advisory, business brokerage, financing advisory and valuation firm headquartered in Richmond, VA, with offices in Roanoke, VA, Lexington, KY, and Orlando, FL. Our strong network of relationships with private investors, senior lenders, private equity firms and professional advisors provides us with a significant advantage for helping business owners complete the best transaction. With Transact Capital, you’ll find an experienced and motivated team dedicated to helping you identify a capital partner that fits your profile and shares your vision for the potential future of your company.
Securities and investment banking transactions are offered through Transact Capital Securities, LLC. Member FINRA and SIPC.
To learn more about this transaction, or Transact Capital Partners, please call George Sydnor at 540-397-3019 (George@TransactCapital.com) or contact Steve Zacharias at 804-612-7102 (Steve@TransactCapital.com). Additional information about Transact Capital Partners can be found at www.TransactCapital.com.
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