Year in Review: Hammons Fallout

A few lingering lawsuits against John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts gained little traction in 2014.

The year after the death of its founder and namesake, the hotel company and its new CEO, Jacquie Dowdy, have been the courtroom target of investor Jonathan Eilian.

One suit stems from the privatization agreement, and Eilian earned a legal victory last month when a Delaware judge ruled over 30 hotels and other properties owned by Hammons’ trust might have to be sold by November 2017. The court ruled Eilian’s holding company, J.D. Holdings LLC, has the first right of refusal regarding properties Hammons developed outside of the scope of the public company because the parties did not come to a divesture agreement 90 days after the hotelier died, as was stipulated.

In July 2011, Atrium TRS LLC, led by Eilian, claimed Dowdy violated a management contract by appointing herself CEO. And in April 2012, Rogers Funding LLC, also led by Eilian, claimed Dowdy inflated the net worth of Hammons’ trust by $1 billion when refinancing a loan. A lawsuit filed last year by Eilian’s SFI Belmont LLC seeks to recover $140 million on a $275 million development line of credit backed by Hammons’ estate.

According to SBJ’s review of Hammons’ personal estate, the only asset not part of his trust was a Ford van worth $1,577.[[In-content Ad]]