CBL Properties, the retail real estate investment trust that emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late last year, has tapped an investment banker it's worked with before to succeed the REIT's longtime chief financial officer.
The Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company said it hired Ben Jaenicke as executive vice president of finance effective this week. Jaenicke is to succeed Farzana Khaleel as executive vice president-chief financial officer on Jan. 1. Khaleel's last day as CFO is set for Dec. 31.
For a publicly traded company such as CBL, the CFO plays a critical role and is one of two executives who certify by signature their company's periodic financial reports such as quarterly earnings statements.
Khaleel, who's worked for CBL for more than 20 years, helped guide the REIT through a rough stretch during the pandemic. She joined CBL in September 2000 as a senior vice president and has served as executive vice president-chief financial officer for a decade.
CBL said Khaleel plans to enter into an agreement to serve as a consultant from January through March, with the option to extend the contract for an additional three months, to ensure a smooth transition for the CFO position.
"She has played a leading role in helping to navigate the company through a number of challenges, including most recently, CBL’s reorganization," CEO Stephen Lebovitz said in a statement. "Farzana has been unwavering in her efforts to ensure that CBL is best positioned financially."
CBL emerged from bankruptcy on Nov. 1, about a year after the pandemic's disruption of its retail business forced the REIT to file for protection from its creditors. In December, with CBL's reorganization behind it, Lebovitz told CoStar News the REIT planned to accelerate its mall redevelopment strategy.
The REIT has been working to strengthen its balance sheet, and during its second-quarter conference call to discuss its financial results, CBL announced more than $600 million in financing activity on malls and open-air shopping centers tied to various loans on the commercial mortgage-backed securities, or CMBS, market. CBL refinanced loans on a number of its properties, while some loans were modified. Other properties were turned over to lenders.
Jaenicke joins CBL from Wells Fargo Securities and predecessor firm Eastdil Secured, which Wells Fargo sold in 2019. He worked at Wells Fargo Securities and Eastdil Secured for more than a decade and before that at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he performed audits and other accounting for public REITs.
Jaenicke served as an adviser to CBL for several years in his roles in investment banking at Wells Fargo and Eastdil Secured.
At CBL, he has entered into an employment agreement with an initial term that runs from Sept. 1 through April 1, 2024, with automatic renewals for successive one-year terms unless terminated, according to a filing made Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Under the agreement, Jaenicke is set to earn an initial annual base salary of $350,000 that will be prorated for the remainder of this year. His salary would increase to $400,000 on Jan. 1, 2024.
Jaenicke would be eligible for an annual bonus of $109,333 for 2022 and a target annual bonus of $338,000 for 2023, according to his employment agreement. In addition, he is in line to receive an initial grant of 20,000 shares of restricted common stock that would vest in equal installments over four years.
CBL agreed to give Jaenicke, who already has relocated from Washington, D.C., to Chattanooga for his new job, relocation assistance not to exceed $100,000, according to his employment agreement.
In 2021, Khaleel earned a salary of $507,565 and total compensation of more than $2.5 million as executive vice president-chief financial officer and treasurer, according to CBL's 2022 proxy statement.
"The company also anticipates that Ms. Khaleel will continue to serve in her current role if Mr. Jaenicke is unable for any reason to assume the duties of chief financial officer as planned," CBL said in Thursday's SEC filing.