Vincent J. Colistra

Senior Managing Director and Shareholder
Years with Phoenix: 13
Office location: Philadelphia, PA and Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Vincent J. Colistra is a Managing Director and Shareholder of Phoenix Management Services, Inc. and directs the firm’s investment banking division, Phoenix Capital Resources. He joined the firm in 1997 as a Director and became a Partner in 1998.

Mr. Colistra has managed or participated in over fifty engagements since joining Phoenix that involved developing and implementing solutions in complex corporate restructurings and reorganizations, recapitalizations, re-financings, the raising of senior debt, 2nd lien debt, subordinated debt with warrants and preferred and common equity, as well as representing strategic and financial buyers and sellers of businesses in both the public and private sector.

In addition, Mr. Colistra has successfully managed numerous engagements for companies operating under the protection of Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code that involved operational turnarounds, balance sheet restructurings, sales of the businesses through the “363” auction process and confirmations of Plans of Reorganization. He has served in the capacity at Phoenix Management as both financial advisor and in direct management positions as CRO, CEO, COO and CFO and has assisted clients in a wide spectrum of industries including manufacturing, distribution, equipment leasing, specialty/structured financing, mining, restaurants and retailing. As the Managing Director of Phoenix Capital Resources, Mr. Colistra has successfully completed numerous transactions that have included re-financings, restructurings, recapitalizations and “363” sales within bankruptcy.

Recent Phoenix accomplishments include:

Served as the exclusive financial advisor to Home Market Foods, a $100 million progressive and diversified premium food and meal solutions company that was experiencing the challenges of: (i) the unprecedented rise in raw meat prices; (ii) realizing the synergies of a remote acquisition of a frozen food facility; (iii) subsequent problems with consolidating previous acquisitions; and (iv) problems with a major system conversion that left the company over leveraged and out of compliance with its various lenders. Mr. Colistra and his team of Phoenix professionals were successful in completing an “Out of Court” restructuring that involved $30 million of new Senior Credit Facilities, the restructuring of $10 million of existing Senior Secured Equipment Notes and Leases, the restructuring of $5 million of Seller Notes, the elimination of $18 million of Subordinated Notes and the pay off of approximately $20 million of Senior Secured Notes. This transaction won several awards from the M&A Advisor for its complexity and successful outcome.

Served as Chief Restructuring Officer to Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc., the largest publicly held restaurant chain in the southeast with over 175 locations in fourteen states that involved the restructuring, turnaround and sale of the business at a 50% premium over the initial “stalking horse” bid negotiated prior to filing bankruptcy as a result of the improved EBITDA from Phoenix’s turnaround initiatives. Saddled with over twenty consecutive quarters of same store sales declines, a number of unprofitable locations, a $40.0 million under-funded pension plan, and an onerous senior note issue that required large principal and interest payments, Mr. Colistra recommended to the Board that they explore the sale of the company as a “going concern” in order to maximize value for all the constituents, given the fact that the company was in the “zone of insolvency”. Phoenix secured a “stalking horse bidder” for $54.0 million and subsequently conducted a “363” auction within bankruptcy. In conjunction with Mr. Colistra’s restructuring efforts, Phoenix was able to improve the company’s profitability from $16.0 million to $25.0 million in EBITDA and was successful in increasing the final sale price by over 45% to $80.0 million. Through the efforts of Phoenix, the various constituents in the case improved their anticipated recovery from 85% on the dollar for the secured note holders to 100% plus all pre and post petition interest, and the unsecured creditors’ realized an 800% improvement in their anticipated recovery from 3 cents to approximately 40 cents on the dollar.

Served as Financial Advisor in the re-financing and re-capitalization of a $250 million leading provider of electronic manufacturing services (EMS) business that involved $55 million of new credit facilities, including a new Senior Credit Asset Based Revolver, a 2nd lien Term Loan and a Subordinated Note with warrants.

Served as the Chief Operating Officer of UniCapital Corporation, a publicly held national equipment leasing and specialty finance company that was involved in the origination, acquisition, and packaging for sale and servicing of equipment leases. As COO, Mr. Colistra was responsible for the day-to day workings of the various operations in addition to building consensus and coordinating the overall sale of the business thru bankruptcy that involved the final settlement with the various constituents in the case.

Served as the exclusive financial advisor to Kellstrom Industries, Inc., a publicly held aviation parts after-market distributor that was severely impacted by the events of September 11. The case involved the restructuring of the company’s Senior Revolver (that included fifteen bank participants); Senior Subordinated Debt and publicly traded high yield bonds. Mr. Colistra led the restructuring efforts, which included the structuring, negotiating and the eventual reaching of consensus with the various constituents thru a series of forbearance agreements that covered a five-month period, to allow the company to find a “Stalking Horse” and conduct an auction thru a pre-arranged bankruptcy. The 363 process resulted in the stalking horse pre-empting the other bidders by raising its initial price by ten percent and a final settlement being finalized with the sub debt holders, the public bondholders and the unsecured creditors. The company emerged from bankruptcy in less than 120 days as a privately owned company, with the existing management running the business and having a sizable equity position in the new company.

Before joining Phoenix, Mr. Colistra was Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration and CFO of a holding company with operating subsidiaries in contract operations, manufacturing and the licensing of proprietary technology to sub-licensees throughout the United States and Canada; served as Senior Vice President and COO of a company in the manufacturing and distribution of building products and CFO of a group of companies involved in steel processing and trading; and spent nearly 15 years in banking where he held various positions in corporate finance, investment banking, corporate lending and asset based financing wherein his engagements involved recapitalizations, leveraged/management buy-outs, acquisition financing, divestitures and advisory roles in overall capital restructuring. He also held international banking positions at Wachovia Bank, where he was General Manager of Wachovia’s New York office, and at Bank of America.

Education/Affiliations

Mr. Colistra holds an MBA from Fordham University, where he majored in Corporate Finance, and a B.S. from Pennsylvania State University where he majored in Finance and Economics. He is also a member of the Turnaround Management Association and the Association for Corporate Growth.