Daily Record Financial News &
Monday, April 2, 2018
Vol. 105, No. 096 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Who will own Southeastern Grocers? Who will hold the stock of Winn-Dixie parent firm after bankruptcy is unclear.
One big mystery remains after Southeastern Grocers LLC filed its prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan last week. Who will own the Jacksonvillebased supermarket operator when it emerges from bankruptcy? The reorganization plan calls for Southeastern to issue stock to pay off $522 million in unsecured notes, with the noteholders ending up with 100 percent of the
company’s stock. Southeastern, which operates Winn-Dixie and three other supermarket chains, already has approval for the plan from most of the noteholders, so it expects to expedite the reorganization and emerge from bankruptcy in about four months. However, the bankruptcy filings don’t say who the noteholders are. The stockholders agreement
was included in the filings with an attached schedule titled “Initial Stockholders.” However, after the heading, the rest of the schedule was blank. The current owners, affiliates of Lone Star Funds, will see their equity wiped out in the reorganization, but they will get a fiveyear warrant entitling them to buy 5 percent of the stock. There are some hints in the stockholders agreement about
future shareholders. In a section on the company’s five-member board of directors, the agreement references investment firms Fidelity Management & Research Co., Osterweis Capital Management, Alliance Bernstein and First Eagle Investment Management as having a say in the board’s makeup. There is also language indicatBasch
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How judges keep court system moving
Lawyer makes house calls
Communication, professionalism is key, Flower, Roberson say. By Max Marbut Associate Editor
When it comes to doing the court’s business and moving cases through the system in a timely manner, communication is the key to success. That was the subject of a CLE presented last week at the Smith Hulsey & Busey law firm by the Jacksonville Bar Association and the Association of Certified E-discovery Specialists Jacksonville chapter focused on electronic discovery and professionalism. Duval County Judge Gary Flower and 4th Judicial Circuit Judge Eric Roberson participated in the discussion moderated by Mary Mack, executive director of ACEDS. As a matter progresses from filing through discovery and into hearings, judges get a sense of the flow and often can evaluate how the process is progressing based on the level of communication exhibited between the opposing counsel and their communications with the court. Flower, who has served on the bench for 30 years, said the pace of the judicial process has quickened and led to a shift in the system. “Twenty years ago, you let the matters come to you. Now, we’re more aggressive in moving cases forward. Judges take a much more
Photo by Max Marbut
Attorney Cynthia Nichols says she got the idea for her “Wills on Wheels” business when a client struggled to make it to her office.
Attorney Cynthia Nichols started “Wills on Wheels” to serve clients with age, disability or transportation issues.
By Max Marbut Associate Editor If someone needs a will, estate or probate action executed and filed, but can’t, or just doesn’t want to go to a lawyer’s office, attorney Cynthia Nichols has a solution. It’s “Wills on Wheels.” After graduating from Stetson College of Law in 1980, she was a law clerk for state Supreme Court Chief Justice Alan Sundberg and then an assistant state attorney in the 4th Judicial Circuit. Nichols established her solo juvenile dependency, guardianship and probate law practice in 1982. She was inspired by the
challenges faced by a client to establish the mobile lawyer service about a year ago. “She was 68 years old and had to take the bus to come see me. When she got to my office, she was all out of breath because she had to walk six blocks from the bus stop,” said Nichols, who drove the woman home after their meeting. “The idea for Wills on Wheels just popped into my head,” she said. She has an office on East Adams Street, but mostly works away from it to serve clients with age, disability or transportation issues. Nichols assists her clients with last will and Nichols
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Judges
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The Marbut Report: A narrow win for Orr
Dawson Orr partner wins board of governors seat by a 40-vote margin. Public
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