Meridian Capital Group made news this month, closing nearly $200 million in financings in three separate transactions. The largest, by far, was a $136 million acquisition loan that financed the purchase of 10 skilled nursing facilities located throughout Ohio. A balance sheet lender provided the loan, which came with a five-year term, 25-year amortization schedule and six months of interest only. And the team of Ari Adlerstein, Ari Dobkin, Josh Simpson and Corey Schwartz of Meridian worked with multiple lenders to close the deal within 52 days, and before the end-of-year deadline.
The same team also secured a $42 million bridge-to-HUD loan, with a 36-month term, on behalf of a company controlled by Edward Farbenblum to acquire a large 455-bed skilled nursing facility in Syracuse, New York. The facility has seen better days, having been raided by the state Attorney General’s office for Medicaid fraud in June 2017. It was also rated poorly on quality of care and was losing a significant amount of annual income. Mr. Farbenblum has already taken over management, replaced the administrator and is planning a $4 million renovation to the facility, which would include a new hotel-like lobby. The $42 million loan should help Mr. Farbenblum on his way to stabilizing the facility, and eventually finding permanent financing.
Finally, Messrs. Adlerstein, Dobkin, Simpson and Schwartz, plus Zach Lederman, went to Danville, Pennsylvania to arrange a $16 million loan, with a 36-month term, 30-year amortization schedule and 18 months of interest only, provided by a balance sheet lender. The loan funded the acquisition of a 172-bed post-acute and long-term care facility situated along the Susquehanna River.
