Restructuring Deal of the Year Award from The M&A Advisor

Bloomfield Hills, MI – November 13, 2018 – Mackinac Partners (now Accordion), a leading turnaround and restructuring firm, has been awarded a 2018 Restructuring Deal of the Year Award for the restructuring and turnaround of Mac Acquisition LLC (DBA ”Romano’s Macaroni Grill”), the award winning Italian casual dining restaurant.

The Restructuring Deal of the Year Award (under $100M) award was presented to Mackinac Partners’ Senior Managing Director Nishant Machado who has served as CEO and CRO for Romano’s Macaroni Grill. The awards and honors were presented on November 6, at the 2018 M&A Advisor Summit and 17th Annual M&A Advisor Awards ceremony at the New York Athletic Club.

Machado, who co-leads Mackinac Partners’ Financial Restructuring and Transaction Advisory practice and leads their West Coast practice out of the Los Angeles area, successfully led Macaroni Grill through a Chapter 11 restructuring and operational turnaround earlier this year. Through the restructuring the company was able to eliminate legacy liabilities, restructure the balance sheet and obtain additional capital to help fund both the restructuring and the operational turnaround.

Machado and the combined Mackinac Partners and Macaroni Grill teams developed and implemented a comprehensive turnaround plan that resulted in significant revenue and margin growth. In addition to the operational turnaround, the team executed on its strategic plan and bolstered the Company’s overall platform which resulted in the acquisition of Sullivan’s Steakhouse in September 2018.

“We are really grateful to be recognized by industry and business peers for the strong effort and results by Nishant and the entire Mackinac Partners and Macaroni Grill teams in driving this turnaround, it’s been a tremendous effort and great result,” Mackinac Partners (now Accordion) Founder and Managing Partner Jim Weissenborn said.

“Congratulations to all parties involved in the Macaroni Grill restructuring and turnaround,” Senior Managing Director and Macaroni Grill CEO Nishant Machado said. “This was truly a team effort and I am very proud of the results across the board. We have continued to execute our plan and the Company is poised for growth.”

Since 2002, The M&A Advisor has been honoring the leading M&A transactions, restructurings, companies and dealmakers. Mackinac Partners was chosen from over 600 participating companies to receive the 2018 Restructuring Deal of the Year Award.

“It gives us great pleasure to recognize Mackinac Partners and bestow upon them our highest honor for M&A firms and professionals,” said Roger Aguinaldo, Founder, The M&A Advisor. “Mackinac Partners represents the best of the M&A industry in 2018 and earned these honors by standing out in a group of very impressive candidates.”

About Accordion

Accordion is a private equity-focused financial and technology consulting firm. Working at the intersection of sponsors and management teams, Accordion partners with clients at every stage of the investment lifecycle. The firm’s services span the entire CFO function within the private capital sector, including operational and technical accounting, strategic financial planning and analysis, CFO-driven transformation, CFO technology, transaction execution, public company readiness, interim leadership, and turnaround and restructuring. With a focus on hands-on, results-oriented execution, Accordion is widely recognized as the go-to PE consultancy and the premier digital-enablement partner for portfolio CFOs. In addition, Accordion has been recognized as an employer of choice for pioneering a better way to work in finance. Accordion has a total of 9 offices including its headquarters in New York and locations in Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and South Florida.