Accelerating Classroom Equity

From the beginning, the family has been committed to investing not only in profitable businesses but also in people and communities. When the time came for the next generation of Webbs to take the reins, they brought new ideas to the table about how to invest the considerable wealth their parents had built. 

The opportunity to acquire Silver Creek Industries, a builder of sustainable modular classrooms, felt like a fit for the family’s mission of empowering vulnerable populations and revitalizing forgotten communities. The Webbs were galvanized by the possibility of bringing critical infrastructure to schools and communities that needed it most. 

However, investing in a construction and manufacturing company using market-sourced funds alongside their family wealth was a big departure from their previous investments. 

The Webbs needed experienced deal counsel to help them navigate the M&A and financing worlds, as well as an adviser that appreciated the importance of the Webb family principles to their investment thesis and strategy.

Loeb & Loeb proved to be the right partner, having previously worked with the Webbs to restructure their investments in order to launch their impact-driven family office. We also worked with them on a prior endeavor to help Black and brown entrepreneurs from communities hardest hit by the war on drugs gain management skills, rent retail space and obtain licenses to open and operate legal cannabis dispensaries. 

For the Silver Creek acquisition, the Loeb & Loeb team worked with the Webbs to simultaneously source investment financing—guiding them through various equity and debt frameworks—and structure and negotiate the acquisition.

Then Silver Creek filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, compressing the deal’s time frame and adding layers of legal and logistical complexity to both the financing and the acquisition. The Webbs were committed to going forward with the acquisition, so Loeb & Loeb brought together a cross-disciplinary team from our corporate, bankruptcy, distressed asset acquisition and other key practices to guide the family through the financing and bankruptcy auction processes. 

Silver Creek’s employees and the community were vital priorities both for the Webb family and for the seller, who was adamant that existing employees be given the opportunity post-sale to remain employed with the new company. Three months after successfully acquiring Silver Creek’s assets out of bankruptcy, the Webbs officially launched Silver Creek Modular. More than 400 of Silver Creek’s original employees stayed on with the new owners. 

For the Webb family, the acquisition was their largest investment to date. Six months after the deal closed, the investment had surpassed the family’s projections for completed projects, revenue growth and new projects in the pipeline. Silver Creek Modular has also become one of the largest Black-owned construction companies in the state of California. 

Loeb & Loeb was honored to be a part of the Webbs’ vision for community revitalization and inclusive economic growth.