Craftworks Parent, Inc.
Role: CRO
Craftworks was the parent company to several well-known brands such as Logan’s Roadhouse, Old Chicago Pizza, Gordon Biersch and Rock Bottom Brewery, etc. This specific case was filed in Delaware and made national headlines as the Covid-19 pandemic forced the closure of all locations, as well as the termination of all but 20 of the Company’s 18,500 employees.
Overview
$800mm revenue restaurant chain with ~265 locations in 35 states filed Ch 11 at the onset of Covid. Mr. Smith was retained post-petition and tasked with stabilizing a situation where the CEO and CFO had recently been removed due to unauthorized distributions. Serving as CRO and Executive Board member, Mr. Smith worked with both the Company’s sponsor and various creditor groups, including an active committee, to assist in restructuring a burdensome real-estate portfolio and ultimately the successful sale of substantially all the Company’s assets through a section 363 sale, saving approximately 8,500 jobs.
Outcome
Post transaction, Mr. Smith was a key member of the transition team on behalf of “newco” while simultaneously overseeing the ongoing wind down of the 38 entities that comprised the “oldco”.