Mackinac Partners, a leading financial advisory and turnaround management firm, has been awarded the 2014 Transaction of the Year – Large Company Award by the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) for AgFeed Industries, Inc. The company will accept the award on September 30 at The TMA Annual in Toronto.

In February 2013, Mackinac Partners began working with AgFeed as the company’s Chief Restructuring Officer and Financial Advisor. Mackinac Partners exemplified outstanding industry leadership working with AgFeed’s legal and investment banking professionals orchestrating the successful sales of AgFeed’s U.S. Operations to affiliates of Tri Oak Foods and Murphy Brown and AgFeed’s China operations to Ningbo Tech Bank.

“We are pleased to receive this recognition for our role in what we believe to be the first-ever acquisition by a Chinese company of the Chinese assets of a U.S. Chapter 11 debtor,” Mackinac Partners Managing Partner, Jim Weissenborn said.

Mackinac Partners Senior Managing Director, Keith Maib, who was named one of the Top 100 Global Restructuring and Turnaround Professionals by the Global M&A Network earlier this year, served as the Chief Restructuring Officer for AgFeed.

“The complexity of these deals required both gaining liquidity for the Chinese sale and navigating an array of intricate Chinese social, tax and governmental compliance issues,” Maib said.

In an effort to return value to shareholders, Mackinac Partners led the AgFeed team in determining the most effective strategy – an orderly sale of the U.S. and China operations. The team successfully marketed and sold the U.S. operations first which generated sufficient liquidity to effectively market and ultimately sell the China operations.

“Due to the historical tax, accounting and compliance irregularities related to Chinese operations, we had to identify a buyer for the Chinese assets who was not only an established operator in China but could also navigate the myriad of issues at hand,” Maib said.

Mackinac Partners fielded a team that was fluent in the local languages and conversant in the local customs and worked closely with the US and China offices of its investment bankers, Business Development Asia.

The success and complexity of the international transaction of AgFeed Industries’ U.S. and China operations has earned Mackinac Partners numerous recognitions by leading financial media analysts and M&A organizations. Earlier this year, the company received three awards from The M&A Advisor, including International M&A Deal of the Year, Agriculture Deal of the Year and §363 Sale of the Year.

Maib, along with Managing Director, Matt Beresh, will receive the award at The TMA Annual taking place September 29-October 1 at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, Ontario.

Mackinac Partners is a leading national financial advisory and turnaround management firm that steadfastly helps clients address and resolve financial and operational crises. Through deep-rooted experience in managing financial distress, developing and implementing operational plans, facilitating capital restructurings and spearheading the purchase or sale of assets to help maximize enterprise value, Mackinac Partners is focused on uncovering emerging challenges, threats and opportunities that exist in its client’s competitive landscapes.