SEC Company Response from Feldman Mall Properties, Inc. (CIK 0001299901) — Nov 23, 2004
Feldman Mall Properties, Inc. (CIK 0001299901)
Date: Nov. 23, 2004 · CIK: 0001299901 · Accession: 0001125282-04-005897
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-118246
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Prepared and filed by St Ives Burrups
C L I F F O R D
C H A N C E
CLIFFORD
CHANCE US LLP
31 WEST
52ND STREET
NEW YORK NY 10019 6131
TEL +1
212 878 8000
FAX + 1 212 878 8375
www.cliffordchance.com
VIA EDGAR AND FACSIMILE
November 21, 2004
United States
Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Attention: Elaine Wolff, Special
Counsel
Re:
Feldman Mall Properties, Inc.
Registration No. 333-118246
Dear Ms. Wolff:
On behalf of our client,
Feldman Mall Properties, Inc., a Maryland corporation (the “Company”),
and in accordance with our telephone conversations on Friday, November 19,
2004, with the Staff, we wish to set forth (i) our final summary of the Rule
152 question (with new deal precedents cited for support), (ii) our argument
that a Black Box-type analysis should be available to the contribution transactions,
(iii) if needed, proposed revised language to be added to the Prospectus
relating to the integration issues raised by the Staff that reflects the
preliminary comments given by the Staff on Friday afternoon and (iv) additional
analysis of the lack of any requirement to include Prior Performance Tables
relating to Tower Realty Trust (“Trust”).
Final Rule 152 Analysis
While we have discussed
this issue several times, we wanted to make crystal clear that the Staff
fully understands the terms of the contribution transactions involving
the owners of Feldman Equities of Arizona, LLC (“FEA”). As disclosed
in the Prospectus, FEA is a limited liability company, which prior to the
initial filing of the Company’s registration statement, was owned
by four members: Feldman Partners LLC (a entity controlled by Larry Feldman
and owned
by him and his family), Jim Bourg, the Company’s Executive Vice President
and Chief Operating Officer, Scott Jensen, the Company’s Executive
Vice President of Leasing, and Jeffrey Erhart the Company’s Executive
Vice President and General Counsel. The economic interests of each member,
as disclosed
in the
Prospectus was, prior to the initial filing and the closing of any
contribution transactions, as follows: Feldman Partners LLC (56%); Jim
Bourg (15.5%): Scott Jensen (15.5%); and Jeffrey Erhart (13.1%).
The contribution agreements
that have been executed by the contributors simply provide for them to exchange
their interests in FEA for exactly the same economic interests in the Company’s
operating partnership. Nothing could be more exact, precise or definite. In
fact, two of the contributors, Jim Bourg and Scott Jensen, closed their contribution
transactions with the Company’s operating partnership prior to the initial
filing of the Company’s registration statement and since such closing
have been the sole limited partners of the operating partnership. The other
two
contributors will close their contribution transactions prior to the closing
of the Company initial public offering.
C L I F F O R D
C H A N C E
CLIFFORD
CHANCE US LLP
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Attention: Elaine Wolff, Special Counsel
November 21, 2004
Of course, once the
Company closes the public offering, the Company will also hold a partnership
interest in the operating partnership that will reduce the economic interests
of the contributors. It was not possible, at the time of the initial filing
of the Company’s registration statement, to know with certainty how
much the Company will be raising in the public offering or the price per
share
of that offering, so it was also not possible to define the final economic
interests of the contributors prior to the initial registration statement
filing.
This
structure is no different from the contribution arrangements that were used
in two recent REIT IPOs, Kite Realty and U-Store-It
Trust. In both deals, the final ownership interests of the contributors were
uncertain until, the Enterprise Value of the new public company was calculated
in the words of the contribution agreements “as determined by [the Company]
in consultation with its underwriters.”
We also wish to note that the fact that there
will always be uncertainty in the final ownership interests held by the
contributors in REIT transactions has been long recognized by commentators
who have analyzed these transactions and the availability of Rule 152.
For example, one commentator noted as follows:
One significant obstacle
is the difficulty of obtaining written consent, prior to the filing of
the registration statement for the REIT from all parties receiving securities
in the consolidation, particularly in situations in which such investors
will not subsequently be entitled to change their investment decision based
on pricing or other developments which may occur in connection with the
public
offering many months later. Because of the time lag between tying up the
private investors and closing on the REIT offering, many material developments
could occur which would ordinarily dictate a renegotiation with the private
investors and or a modification to the written agreement (which will not
be possible if you are relying on Rule 152). For example,
the amount that the private investors eventually receive depends on the
underwriter’s
subsequent pricing of the REIT securities and its determination of the
dividend yield which it believes is necessary to attract the new REIT investors.
The
existing investors commonly will only receive the remaining equity in the
new REIT based on the pricing and yield determinations. These determinations
may not be made until 6 to 12 months after the existing investors have
signed their binding agreements. Therefore, the binding agreements generally
recite
only a minimum number of shares to be received by an investor (or
a formula to determine the number of shares) because
such agreements cannot be renegotiated and modified after the pricing determinations
are
made by the underwriters. (our emphasis) See “Integration Issues in
Real Estate Offerings,” Judith D. Fryer, From Insights, The Corporate & Securities
Law Advisor, May 1995.
The contribution agreements
for the Feldman transactions have been prepared with these basic issues in
mind. All uncertainties that were capable of being resolved prior to filing
were resolved in the formulas set forth in the contribution agreements. The
formulas used in the Feldman contribution agreements are, of course, simpler
and more straight forward than those used in either the Kite or U-Store-It
transactions. The simplicity in the Feldman deal is available because the
Feldman
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C L I F F O R D
C H A N C E
CLIFFORD
CHANCE US LLP
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Attention: Elaine Wolff, Special Counsel
November 21, 2004
contribution transaction involves only the transfer
of the ownership interests in a single
company (FEA) to the operating partnership rather than the contribution of
interests in multiple entities as was the case in both Kite Realty and U-Store-It.
Both of these transactions present the same issue of not being able
to know the final ownership interest until the deal is priced and the enterprise
value is “determined by [the Company] in consultation with its underwriters.” Yet,
both deals (like Feldman) meet the Staff’s positions relating to Rule
152.
Alternative Black Box Analysis
We
also believe that it would be most appropriate and consistent with the Staff’s
prior positions and the protection of investors if a Black Box-type analysis
were applied to cover the contribution agreements in the Feldman transaction.
As indicated above, the deal was structured so that the contribution transactions
for Jim Bourg and Scott Jensen were closed prior to the initial filing
of the Company’s registration statement. They have been since prior
to the initial filing of the Company’s registration statement holders
of limited partnership interests in the Company’s operating partnership.
This means that only two contributors, Feldman Partners LLC (the Larry Feldman
entity) and Jeff Erhart, are parties
to contribution transactions that were not closed prior to the initial filing
of the Company’s registration statement. We are aware that the Staff
has, in the past, applying a Black Box-type analysis, permitted post-filing
contribution
transactions to occur, limited to a very small number (two or three) accredited
investors. Both Messrs. Feldman and Erhart are of course highly sophisticated
accredited investors and we believe that it would be consistent with prior
Staff approaches on these matters to extend the Black Box position to these
two contributors as well.
Proposed Language
Nevertheless,
because time is not a luxury we continue to hold and the resolution of these
issues is delaying the launching of the marketing phase of the transaction,
we have proposed to include language in the Prospectus that addresses the
integration issues raised by the Staff. We appreciate very much the Staff
taking the time to give us preliminary thoughts Friday afternoon and understand
that additional comments may follow later on Monday morning. To save time,
we have gone ahead and revised the disclosure in accordance with the preliminary
comments. Attached to this letter as Exhibit A is a revision to the Risk
Factor language sent earlier on Friday, marked against that earlier version.
In this draft, we have (i) removed the disclosure references to the share
and OP unit counts and (ii) added a sentence explaining the consequences
to the Company of the exercise by the contributors of their potential rescission
rights.
Track Record Prior Performance
Information
In
our prior discussions with the Staff, we have been advised that with more
than 80% of the offering proceeds specified in the Prospectus the Company
is not a “blind pool” and the Prospectus need not include prior
performance information mandated by Guide 5. In anticipation of possible
future events, we are concerned that if the initial public offering were
upsized,
it is possible that a larger portion of the proceeds of the offering may
be unspecified, which could lead to the Company
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C L I F F O R D
C H A N C E
CLIFFORD
CHANCE US LLP
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Attention: Elaine Wolff, Special Counsel
November 21, 2004
falling back into the blind pool category which could
in turn require the Company to include the Guide 5 prior performance
information in its filing.
In recognition of these
potential circumstances, the Company has included in the Prospectus
Narrative Summary track record information about Tower in accordance with
Item 8 of Guide 5. As we indicated to the Staff in our prior
communications, we do not believe that the Prior Performance Tables
set forth in the Appendix to Guide 5 translate into information about a
publicly traded, NYSE-listed REIT, like Tower. In addition, we note that
the members of the management team of the Company left the employment
of Tower in August 1998, more than six years ago, and the instructions
to the Prior Performance Tables ask for information within a more recent
period of time. Specifically, the Instructions to the Prior Performance
Tables state, as follows:
Table I. Experience in Raising and Investing
Funds (on a percentage basis) Instructions:
1. Include information only
for programs the offering of which closed in the most recent three
years. (our emphasis)
Table 11. Compensation to Sponsor Instructions
1. Include in a
separate column for each program aggregated payments made to the
sponsor only by real estate programs the offering of which closed
in the most recent three years. Include in another
separate column aggregate payments to the sponsor in the most recent three years from all other programs and indicate the number of programs involved.
(our emphasis)
Table III. Operating Results of Prior Programs
Instructions:
l . Include information
only for programs the offerings of which closed in the most recent five
years. Financial
data for each program should be presented separately for each year. (our
emphasis)
Table IV. Results of Completed
Programs Instructions.
1. Include programs that
have completed operations (no longer hold properties) in the most recent
five years, even if they still hold notes. (our emphasis)
Table V. Sales or Disposals of Properties Instructions:
1. Include all
sales or disposals of property by programs with similar investment
objectives within the most recent three years. (our
emphasis)
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C L I F F O R D
C H A N C E
CLIFFORD
CHANCE US LLP
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Attention: Elaine Wolff, Special Counsel
November 21, 2004
Table
VI. Acquisitions of Properties by Programs Instructions:
l . Include the following table only in Part
Il of the registration statement.
2. Include all properties acquired by any
prior programs with similar investment objectives in the most recent three
years. (our emphasis)
These Instructions to the Prior Performance
Tables are clear that, even if the prior performance tables were required
for Tower, the management team left Tower before the commencement of
any of the time periods set forth in the Instructions. For this reason,
we do not believe that the Tables should be included in the Company’s
filing even if the Company were to amount to a blind pool.
We would greatly appreciate resolving these
matters as quickly as possible. Questions in connection with this letter
should be directed to the undersigned at 212-878-8527.
Thank you for all of your thoughts and attention
to this filing.
Very truly yours,
/s/ Jay L. Bernstein
Jay L.
Bernstein, Esq.
cc:
Karen Garnett, Esq.
Jeffrey A. Shady, Esq.
Larry Feldman
Jim Bourg
Tom Wirth
Alexander G. Simpson, Esq.
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C L I F F O R D
C H A N C E
CLIFFORD
CHANCE US LLP
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Attention: Elaine Wolff, Special Counsel
November 21, 2004
Exhibit A
Revised Integration Rider
The exemption from the
registration requirements of the Securities Act may not be available in the
formation transactions. In connection with the formation transactions, members
of our management team will receive 100,000 shares of common
stock and 989,684 OP units to be held by Larry Feldman,
our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and his affiliates, 233,504 OP
units to be held by Jim Bourg, our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating
Officer, 233,504 OP units to be held by Scott Jensen, our Executive Vice
President of Leasing, 160,000 OP units to be held by Jeffrey Erhart, our
Exe