O’Keefe & Associates, a financial and strategic advisory firm specializing in corporate finance, litigation support, strategic advisory and turnaround and restructuring, has been appointed by the court as receiver over Finlandia University.
Finlandia is a private Lutheran University in Hancock, MI. It is the only private University in the Upper Peninsula. It was founded in 1896 as the Suomi College and Theological Seminary. On March 10th, Finlandia’s board of directors passed a resolution to seek judicially-supervised dissolution citing a decline in enrollment and the debt load of the university. The Ingham County Court found good cause to appoint a receiver and has approved Patrick O’Keefe and O’Keefe & Associates for its duties.
“It is always sad to see an institution of higher learning fail in Michigan,” O’Keefe said.
Finlandia has a long history of servicing the community and hosts a cultural center for Finnish Americans. O’Keefe noted that Finlandia’s financial issues are symptomatic of the financial stress many smaller universities are facing.
“We are thrilled that O’Keefe has been appointed as the receiver for Finlandia,” Tim Pinnow, president of Finlandia, said. “Pat O’Keefe and his team have personal experience in higher education and understand the importance of Finlandia to the region and the Finnish community. They have already made several positive steps that will help Finlandia University wind down operations gracefully and with integrity.”
