NEW YORK — Law firm Haynes and Boone here was honored for its work to facilitate the sale of Penn Traffic’s assets to Tops Friendly Markets by the trade journal M&A Advisor, which named the transaction its “Distressed M&A Deal of the Year” under $100 million.
Penn Traffic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November of 2009, and put itself up for auction. Substantially all of its assets were sold to regional competitor Tops a little more than two months later for a price of $85 million — almost double the amount of the initial stalking horse bid.
“The Tops agreement salvaged Penn Traffic from potential liquidation of the entire chain, preserving most of the company’s supermarkets and thousands of jobs,” Haynes and Boone said in a release. “The Tops transaction also resolved substantial claims and issues with significant creditors, including the company’s primary supplier, unions and one of the union pension plans. The secured lenders and key suppliers were fully repaid and unsecured creditors are projected to realize a meaningful recovery.”
