Mackrell International (MI) Indiana member, Bose McKinney & Evans LLP, completed a US-wide US$750 million property re-financing project for long-standing client Simply Self Storage calling on three MI members. Other firms involved were Baker Donelson in Alabama and Mississippi, Clark Hill in Pennsylvania and Scheef & Stone in Texas. The re-financing covered 102 properties in 20 US states plus Puerto Rico.
Simply Self Storage is one of the largest privately owned self-storage management companies in the US with over 7 million square feet of storage space in 214 locations across the country and Puerto Rico. Bose McKinney & Evans LLP partner Bryan Woodruff has advised the company for nearly 20 years on acquisitions, joint ventures, financing, tax and leases.
Greg Hahn, MI lead for Bose McKinney & Evans LLP, said; “Simply Self Storage had existing counsel in many, but not all, states involved in the refinancing. Being a member of MI means we can call on MI firms in the states not covered by existing relationships to assist in the project, knowing those firms were well-vetted and that individual attorneys were known to provide quality work product and on-time service. The advantage to the client of Bose McKinney & Evans LLP using Mackrell firms is that it is a seamless process.”
The MI firms provided local counsel opinion letters and the practice areas involved were real estate and tax.
Woodruff said; “The major challenge in this project was coordinating the closing in the 21 jurisdictions on time as the opinion letters all had to wait to be issued on the date of closing, which was not determined until less than two days before the actual closing date. All the firms met the deadline and were easy to work with throughout the transaction. In addition to their efficiency and responsiveness, their fees were similar to ours so there was no issue with surprise billings.”
MI has 37 members in 103 offices across Canada, North and South America.
Clive Mieville, managing director for MI, said; “The Simply Self Storage work is an example of what our members do best. The client was able to pick from exactly the right locations and could rely on receiving the same high value quality standard of advice and client service.”
Bose McKinney & Evans LLP is a business law firm, serving both publicly held and privately held businesses, governmental entities and high-growth industries. The firm's Indiana offices are in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne.
For more on Simply Self Storage please visit www.simplyss.com.