Centric Brands, a fashion company that designs and sells
brands ranging from Calvin Klein to Under Armour, is set to emerge from bankruptcy
with a new office lease at the Empire State Building.
The company has signed a direct lease for 212, 154 s/f of space it previously subleased from Global Brands Group (GBG) which had been a tenant at ESB since 2011.
Centric was created through a $1.2 billion acquisition of
GBG brands in 2018 that was funded by investment giants Blackstone, Ares, HPS
and GSO Capital.
A bankruptcy court has approved its plan of reorganization and it expects to exit Chapter 11 by the end of October as a private company owned by its lenders Blackstone, Ares Management Corp. and HPS Investment Partners.
“As part of Centric Brands’ reorganization, they
considered all their options for their offices. It is gratifying that they
chose to restack and make a long-term commitment to ESB,” said Anthony E.
Malkin, CEO of Empire State Realty Trust. “We look forward to our continued
relationship with Centric Brands as they grow.”
Alvarez & Marsal provided legal representation on the deal. JLL’s Peter Riguardi, Joseph Messina and Cynthia Wasserberger represented Centric Brands. Landlord representation was provided by Anthony E. Malkin, Ryan Kass, and Shanae Ursini from ESRT.
Under the terms of the bankruptcy deal, Blackstone will
exchange its second-lien debt for equity interests in the reorganized company.
Existing senior lenders Ares and HPS will retain their senior loan positions
and receive equity interests in the reorganized company.
