Carl Marks Advisors, an investment bank providing financial and operational advisory services to middle-market companies, completed the restructuring and sale of Aztec Events & Tents and Shaffer Sports. Carl Marks Advisors served as restructuring advisor to the company, with partner Brian Williams acting as chief restructuring officer.
Aztec Events & Tents is a tent and event rental provider in Houston. The company provides tents and equipment for events including the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and the Texas MS150 Houston to Austin bike ride. For the past year the company has provided tents and services for COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites in the Houston region.
Shaffer Sports is a provider of hospitality structures and tents to the PGA Tour and other sporting events in the country, including Formula 1 and NASCAR at Circuit of the Americas and the Breeders’ Cup.
Aztec/Shaffer experienced a severe reduction in revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which curtailed events in the Houston area and at PGA Tour events in the U.S. As chief restructuring officer, Carl Marks Advisors helped Aztec/Shaffer stabilize its operations, manage its day-to-day processes and retain customer and vendor relationships. Carl Marks Advisors also prepared the company for a process that culminated in the sale of the business pursuant to Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on April 23. Aztec/Shaffer had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November and was sold to a consortium of co-bidders led by Arena Events Group, Summit Investment Management and certain affiliates of American General Life Insurance Company.
“We are pleased with the end result this process achieved for Aztec/Shaffer and its stakeholders, and we believe the talented team, large and high-quality equipment base and impressive clientele will add significant value for Arena as demand for large-scale events continues to return,” Williams said.
