Trustee selected in Colony case

For now, The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort management will remain in place while a trustee oversees its day-to-day operations.

William Maloney, a St. Petersburg-based chief financial officer restructuring expert, was appointed June 4 to be the U.S. trustee in the Colony’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

Maloney, a partner with Atlanta-based Tatum Partners, has more than 25 years of domestic and international experience in Fortune 500, middle-market and small entrepreneurial businesses.

Maloney’s first day on resort grounds was Monday, June 14, and he spent four half-days on the resort grounds through Friday, June 18.

Colony President and General Manager Katie Moulton said she was happy with the trustee selection.

“We feel Mr. Maloney will quickly have a grasp of the financial operations and conditions here,” Moulton said.

Even though Maloney has allowed Moulton to continue in her role while he reviews the hotel’s operations, he has the final say in all resort decisions moving forward.

Moulton said Maloney has shown “eagerness to bring all interested parties together to have some reasonable and productive dialogue and assist in coming to some collaborative solution.

“Mr. Maloney will meet with or speak to the number of groups and individuals who have already contacted him who are interested in putting forth a plan for the long-term solution of the resort,” she said.

Meanwhile, Moulton said the resort is continuing to market the hotel for the summer and has strong occupancy numbers for July. Moulton said the resort will be holding its annual Fourth of July celebration weekend and will host its fireworks celebration Saturday, July 3.

Maloney’s first report on the state of affairs at The Colony is not expected to be presented to Tampa-based U.S. Bankruptcy Judge K. Rodney May until mid-July at the earliest.

Maloney will eventually tell May whether he believes the resort can be restructured through Chapter 11 or if the case should be converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation.

Maloney declined an interview with The Longboat Observer, saying it was too early to discuss resort affairs.

WHO IS WILLIAM MALONEY?

William Maloney, a St. Petersburg-based chief financial officer restructuring partner with Atlanta-based Tatum Partners, has experience in senior financial and operations management, financial restructuring, bankruptcy and several turnaround situations.

Maloney, who also owns his own restructuring consulting firm, has served as chief executive officer or chief financial officer for distressed companies, including real-estate developers, manufacturers, distributors, restaurants and non-profits.

Locally, Maloney is finishing up a restructuring of Bradenton Beach-based GSR Development LLC, an island real-estate development company that went bankrupt in 2007.

According to his website, www.bmaloney.com, Maloney has participated in a Drexel-financed hostile takeover of a $4 billion company.

Maloney has a strong background in finance, accounting, strategic planning, operations management and information systems management and development.

Maloney’s accomplishments include:

• Managing a comprehensive system project that was the subject of a case study by J.D. Edwards and Ernst & Young.

• President of a Burger King franchise group operating in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

• Chief financial officer of a $60 million specialty steel products manufacturer with four U.S. manufacturing facilities.

• Former chief financial officer of a $40 million troubled material-handling equipment distributor in Central Florida.

• The former vice president and chief financial officer of Indesco International Inc., a $100 million international manufacturer of injection-molded, plastic liquid-dispensing products that he restructured through bankruptcy.