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Top 200 Private Companies
Private Companies in Deep Debt
Tampa — For more than 30 years, affluent road warriors have made their way to this Tampa motor home dealer, which bills itself as the largest single-site RV dealer in the nation. But the recession has sideswiped demand for recreational vehicles and pushed a number of RV makers into bankruptcy. In November, in order to preserve liquidity, Lazydays chose not to pay the interest on its $138.7 million in unsecured debt and instead begin negotiations with its lenders on modifying requirements of its loans.
Neff Corp. (unranked)
Miami — Once owned by south Florida’s prominent Mas family, this Miami heavy-equipment rental company was acquired in 2007 by New York private equity firm Lightyear Capital. Neff has been hit by the downturn in non-residential construction, resulting in lower demand and a decrease in rental rates, particularly for earth-moving equipment in Florida and California.
OSI Restaurant Partners (No. 10)
Tampa — Diners at Outback Steakhouse are being offered a new, lower-priced menu as Tampa Bay’s homegrown restaurant chain struggles to attract tightfisted customers. OSI, which, also owns Bonefish Grill, Carrabba’s Italian Grill and several other restaurant chains, is saddled with $1.8 billion in debt and lost $739.4 million in 2008 compared to a loss of $22.6 million in 2007 and a profit of more than $100 million in 2006.
?Mergers and Acquisitions
Stiefel Laboratories (No. 25)
Those with skin problems likely know Duac, Olux and Soriatane. Behind them: Stiefel Laboratories, a Coral Gables family company dating to Germany in 1847, before there even was a Germany. The Stiefels agreed to sell out to GlaxoSmithKline this year for $3.6 billion, ending the company’s run on our private company list. CEO Charles W. Stiefel takes over a combined Stiefel-GSK dermatology unit.
Kraft Construction (No. 107)
Naples-based Kraft Construction, No. 46 on the 2008 private company list, merged last year with the Manhattan Construction Group, based in Tulsa, Okla.
Peter R. Brown Construction (No. 113)
Peter R. Brown Construction in Tampa was sold to PBSJ (No. 40) in December for $16 million.
