New role strengthens one of GAA’s niche services—structuring creative M&A transactions for companies facing financial challenges.

Mountain Lakes, N.J. – John E. Hyde, Esq., has been named to the new position of Managing Director of Special Situations at Graphic Arts Advisors, LLC (GAA), Mountain Lakes, NJ, a strategic financial advisory and consulting firm devoted exclusively to the printing and graphic communications industry. In addition to its core business serving profitable, well-capitalized companies, GAA has built a niche practice unique in the industry assisting companies that require specialized restructuring and turnaround skills.

Hyde joined GAA in 2015 and has helped many clients grow by strategic acquisition or transition from ownership through merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions and financial restructuring. In his new role, John will continue to leverage his printing industry-specific legal and financial expertise to structure creative M&A transactions and restructurings. He also serves as a trustee for administering fiduciary accounts so that sellers’ creditors are treated fairly without the cost or delay of bankruptcy court proceedings.

“This new title is meant to reflect John Hyde’s deep level of expertise in mergers and acquisitions of financially-challenged companies, non-bankruptcy debt restructuring, and the orderly wind-down of assets and liabilities,” said Mark Hahn, Senior Managing Director of GAA.

Many of GAA’s clients are healthy companies seeking to acquire a compatible firm because of its book of business, customer relationships, infrastructure, or labor pool. However, buyers are often concerned about taking on sellers’ liabilities. Hyde specializes in cases where the seller has too much debt and the buyer’s M&A offer, by itself, is not sufficient to get the seller out from under. By understanding the seller’s concerns and pressure from creditors, Hyde assists clients with M&A advice on price and structure, including minimizing risk of the buyer’s successor liability and fairly allocating performance risk between buyer and seller. The seller’s personal obligations such as loan and lease guarantees, credit cards, and affiliated-owned real estate are typically factored into the overall plan so that it makes sense for the seller to go forward with the M&A transaction.

“Buyers close more deals by going beyond the M&A offer and giving the financially challenged seller a realistic roadmap of how the various debts, such as loans, leases, payables, landlords, and other creditors, will be resolved without bankruptcy as part of the seller’s post-closing orderly wind-down of assets and liabilities,” says Hyde. “Often the sellers are family businesses or entrepreneurs who are facing a life-event. Decisions have major implications and sometimes there may not be much time left on the clock. The higher the risk, the faster the pace, the more value we bring by going beyond traditional advice from other professionals. In these special situations, our advice is both art and science.”

John Hyde can be reached at 646-220-4431 or at [email protected]. 

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