Bell Nunnally Represents Texoma FC in Major Investment Deal with Gronkowski Family Partner Andrew Dowdy, Associate Matthew DeWitte and Senior Associate Reid Burley represented USL Professional Soccer team Texoma FC co-founders Simon Keizer and Ben Watson in their broadening of the team’s ownership investment group to include the Gronkowski family of NFL fame. The eight-figure investment deal with Athlon Family Office includes the Gronkowski family, entrepreneur De Anna Guerreiro and the West Family of West Legacy holdings. These investments have cemented Texoma FC’s capital structure as it approaches its kick-off season in 2025. Senior Associate Reid Burley, who has his roots in Sherman, Texas, which will be home to Texoma FC, said, “It was a privilege to represent Simon and Ben in this incredible investment deal. Simon, Ben, and I go way back to our days all living in Sherman. It is very special to see Simon and Ben use their talents to build something incredible for the community.” “Truly, the timing has never been better to launch this project. It’s no secret that Texoma is primed for catalytic growth with the influx of $41 billion worth of businesses coming to the region,” said Texoma FC President, Ben Watson. “Soccer in America is on a once-in-a-lifetime runway with the COPA America this summer, the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025 and the FIFA World Cup in 2026, all happening right here in North America. Not to mention, Dallas, just 60 miles away, is the host for the FIFA World Cup Semi-Final in 2026.” “Over the last twelve months, we’ve spent thousands of hours in the community building something special here in Texoma,” said Texoma FC CEO, Simon Keizer. “This is a diverse community, both demographically and geographically. We desire to bring a family- centric project that creates goodwill and leverages local business and charitable partnerships locally and globally. We are united by our love of the game and our shared commitment to creating opportunity for our kids and pride for our community.”
Bell Nunnally Represents Viridien in Lease Negotiations for Houston North American HQ Partner Jean Pierre Boyea represented French company Viridien (through one of its U.S. subsidiaries, CGG Services (U.S.) Inc.) in its negotiation of a new long-term lease for more than 250,000 square feet of commercial office space and data center facilities for its North American headquarters in Houston. Viridien is a multinational geoscience technology services and high-performance computing company that specializes in solving complex natural resource, environmental and infrastructure challenges. Viridien’s North American headquarters is in a custom-built, seven-building campus developed over 20+ years, comprised of office space, data center facilities, parking garages and various campus amenities (425,000+ square feet of leasable area in the aggregate). Viridien tapped Bell Nunnally to help it create a lease where the campus can become multi-tenant, while allowing the company to maintain control over key buildings and infrastructure facilities. Bell Nunnally was able to tailor an agreement that addressed unique issues such as the challenge of ensuring Viridien’s operation of 24/7/365 data center facilities, as well as including emergency preparedness provisions to better ensure data center uptime in the event of extreme weather. Jean worked closely with Viriden’s in-house team of Chad Meintel (Head of Legal Affairs – North America), James Whatley (Facilities Manager) and Gary Wilson (U.S. Country Manager) on this project, and was assisted by Bell Nunnally partners Kassandra McLaughlin and Spencer Diebel. Bell Nunnally Represents Investment Manager Firm Karpas Strategies in Sale Partner Ray Balestri and Senior Associate Josh Smith and associates Vikram Kadiri and Matthew DeWitte represented Karpas Strategies, LLC, a Litchfield, Conn.-based independent investment manager serving ultra-high-net-worth families, foundations and trusts, in its recent sale to Akron, Ohio-based wealth management firm Sequoia Financial Group, LLC. Terms were not disclosed. “We’re pleased to join forces with Sequoia Financial, continuing our tradition of exceptional, highly personalized service for our clients,” Karpas said in a Sequoia Financial-issued press release. “And we are especially excited for our clients to benefit from the broad and deep resources Sequoia Financial has built and the specialized services available within the Sequoia Sentinel Family Office.” “Bell Nunnally’s deal team, led by Ray Balestri, provided exceptional guidance throughout our process, ensuring a smooth and uneventful closing for our transaction. The team was quickly responsive to all our due diligence needs which allowed us to have great confidence from start to finish for this milestone event for our firm,” said Matthew P. Karpas, Managing Director at Karpas Strategies.
“We’re proud to be partnering with the Texoma community and Texoma FC to help strengthen these values and to provide entertainment, passion, and fun for years to come,” said Glenn Gronkowski in a Texoma FC-issued press release.
Additionally, Partner John Smart and Associate Vikram Kadiri successfully obtained an O-1 Visa for former Premier League player/ coach Adrian Forbes to join as Texoma FC’s Sporting Director.
Texoma FC is planning to kick off its first professional season in USL League One’s 2025 season and will play its home games in Sherman, Texas.
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