Gramercy Moves to In-House Management

NEW YORK CITY-Gramercy Capital Corp. on Monday said it has completed the process of internalizing its management, a move the company says has been its goal from the beginning. The final step toward Gramercy’s internalization was acquiring its external manager, GKK Manager LLC, previously a wholly owned subsidiary of SL Green Realty Corp. In a release, Gramercy says the consideration paid to SL Green to acquire GKK was “de minimis.”

According to the release, a short-term transition agreement will remain in place between Gramercy and SL Green. The consulting agreements with specific SL Green employees have now been terminated, “and it is the intention of Marc Holliday and Stephen Green to exit from the board of directors of Gramercy in the near future.” Holliday and Green are CEO and chairman, respectively, of SL Green.

In a statement, Gramercy CEO Roger Cozzi says, “The internalization of management, together with the restructuring of our corporate indebtedness, improves our ability to weather the current market environment and positions us to take advantage of investment opportunities once our nation’s real estate and financial markets begin to recover.” Earlier this month, Gramercy settled its $175-million unsecured credit facility, and amended and extended its $216-million secured credit facility and $200-million master repurchase facility.

The process of internalizing management, which was part of Gramercy’s business plan when it was founded in 2004, began last October with the hiring of Cozzi as CEO and Timothy O’Connor as president, the company says. Holliday had formerly served in both capacities for Gramercy.

In compelting the internalization, Clifford Chance US LLP represented Gramercy and Hogan & Hartson LLP represented the special committee of Gramercy’s board of directors. Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as financial advisor to the Gramercy special committee.