Brown Moskowitz & Kallen, P.C. recently represented Vernon, California-based poultry and meat provider Randall Farms and its owners, the Bloom family, in connection with the sale of its assets excluding real estate, which the Bloom family retained. The company was acquired by Highview Capital, LLC, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm. The transaction enables the Bloom family to liquidate its nearly seven-decade-old legacy company while remaining landlord for the real estate assets of Randall Farms.
The transaction was spearheaded by Norman D. Kallen, Partner and Co-Chair of BMK’s Commercial Transactions practice. In addition to Mr. Kallen the BMK team consisted of BMK Partners Stuart M. Brown, (co-chair of the Commercial Transactions practice), Frederic M. Tudor (commercial transactions, finance, and technology), Keith E. Marlowe (real estate), Senior Counsel Kristina R. Brown (business, finance, and technology) and Counsel Emilio J. Lamanna (corporate).
With BMK acting as lead transaction counsel for Randall Farms, additional counsel was provided by a diverse team of legal specialists: Stacy L. Fode (labor and employment) and Christine Gottesman (benefits) of Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, P.C.; Ruben A. Smith (commercial transactions), Thierry R. Montoya (environmental) and Thomas “Toby” A. Zeigler (commercial transactions), all of west coast-based AlvaradoSmith; and Shawn K. Stevens (USDA compliance) of Wisconsin-based Food Industry Counsel, LLC. Kevin Bodnar of Peapack-Gladstone Bank served as banking advisor to the Bloom family.
“Brown Moskowitz & Kallen was pleased to represent Randall Farms and the Bloom Family in our second bicoastal transaction in the last couple of months,” said Norman D. Kallen. “Our close relationship with the Bloom family’s banker, Peapack-Gladstone Bank, enabled us to excel in negotiating a transaction that permits the Bloom family to sell its company to an experienced private equity firm with the capability to broaden the Randall Farms industry footprint while protecting the careers of its 400 employees and retaining control of all Randall Farms-related real estate assets for continued income. In turn, Randall Farms was an attractive acquisition for Highview Capital because it enables the firm, which is active in other food industry verticals, to make the company its platform asset in the poultry and meats sector.”
“Selling a family-owned company is not only a financial decision, but an emotional one as well,” said Stan Bloom, CEO, whose father, Sid, founded Randall Farms in 1952 as a small poultry farm providing fresh chicken to regional grocers. Through the years, the Bloom family expanded the company to the status of a leading purveyor of poultry and meat products throughout California, the Pacific Northwest, Arizona, Texas, Nevada, and New Mexico. “Brown Moskowitz & Kallen understood our legacy concerns and provided us with expert legal and business guidance throughout the transaction,” Mr. Bloom continued. “BMK was diligent in ensuring that our employees and the culture of quality and pride we cultivated over nearly 70 years would continue for our employees as Randall Farms becomes the poultry and meat cornerstone of the Highview Capital portfolio. Further, BMK real estate counsel negotiated our family’s retention of the commercial real estate assets of the company, positioning us as landlords with income in perpetuity. We could not have envisioned a more satisfactory outcome.”