JMBM helps EZ Lube in recapitalization

JMBM attorneys represented EZ Lube and its shareholders in its recent recapitalization – which included a sale of a significant portion of the EZ Lube’s owners’ equity position to an affiliate of Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co, a New York-based buyout firm, plus a $105 million refinancing of EZ Lube with GSO Capital Partners and EZ Lube’s existing lender Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group. EZ Lube intends to use the additional financing available to it to help the company expand its fleet of oil-change shops. This transaction was highlighted by the Los Angeles Times on January 6, 2006 as a good example of a growing trend in middle market transactions in the Los Angeles marketplace. In this type of transaction, the owner-operators are able to liquidate a portion of their value in the company while at the same time maintaining a substantial equity position and providing for additional capital to fund the company’s future growth. JMBM used the resources of its tax, corporate and financing departments in this transaction with the tax aspects headed up by Steve Goldstein, the financing work by Joel Berman and the corporate work by Barry Burten.