Eastern Outfitters LLC, the parent of Bob’s Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports that emerged from bankruptcy proceedings through a sale to Sports Direct, won the “Transaction of the Year – Mid-size Company” award from the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) for 2018.

Those recognized included Malfitano Partners, the asset acquisition and disposition advisory firm.

Managing Partner Joseph Malfitano, was recognized for his contribution at Eastern Outfitters, which won the prestigious TMA’s “Transaction of the Year – Mid-size Company” award for 2018.

According to a statement from Malfitano Partners, the TMA broadly describes its awards as recognizing “the individuals who orchestrate a non-operational restructuring, including merger and acquisition, sale, loan, liquidation, debt restructuring, etc., to preserve value in a struggling business.”

“This has been an extremely tough year for retail companies in need of turnaround or other forms of fundamental change,” said Joseph Malfitano, managing partner of Malfitano Partners. “That makes it all the more rewarding, though, that our team of professionals at Malfitano Partners, working hand-in-hand with other advisors and with company management, were able to help save value for so many stakeholders on this engagement. The engagement highlights the importance of getting Malfitano Partners involved early on when considering closing stores as part of any restructuring or sale of a business.”

Also recognized by the TMA for their work on the Eastern Outfitters engagement will be: Spencer Ware, AlixPartners LLP; Alexander Stevenson, Lincoln International; Jennifer Feldsher, Bracewell LLP; Norman Pernick, Cole Schotz P.C.; Spence Mehl, RCS Real Estate Advisors, Nicholas Campbell, MERU and Robert Jordan, Kurtzman Carson Consultants.

A release from the TMA described how the restructuring team was able to secure a DIP loan from Sports Direct to avoid a full liquidation. TMA wrote, “The acquired business included approximately 50 retail stores in the U.S. To our knowledge, the EO sale was the only successful sale in the sports retail space in 2017 of any meaningful size and remains one of the few successful 2017 retail turnarounds to date.”

The TMA awards were presented at the 2018 TMA Annual Convention, September 26-28, in Colorado Springs, CO, at The Broadmoor resort.