Investors will control Pitcairn Properties under new name

Pitcairn Properties will shed the Pitcairn name and stop associating itself with the wealthy Pitcairn family under the legal settlement reached last month with investors in the Jenkintown commercial real estate firm.

The settlement, filed Wednesday in Delaware Chancery Court, showed that the investors, led by Philadelphia deal-maker Eric L. Blum, emerged from a bitter legal fight not just with the chairman's seat, but also with a 5-4 majority on the board of the privately held firm. The investor group had bought $50 million in Pitcairn preferred stock in 2004.

Pitcairn Properties, founded in 1968, has about $800 million worth of office space in its portfolio, including the Chesterbrook Corporate Center in Tredyffrin Township, which it bought in 2006 for $250 million.

The economic downturn devastated the commercial-property industry, but Pitcairn Properties was in a particular squeeze because the $50 million preferred-stock deal gave Blum's group the right to take over the company if it failed to meet a redemption request.

That happened in June. Pitcairn first sued in Chancery Court in July to block Blum's takeover. Then the company filed for bankruptcy protection Sept. 1, but the case was thrown out. The settlement, giving Blum the chairman's seat and naming him interim chief executive officer, was reached Sept. 20.

Blum, who leads ELB Capital Management L.L.C., of Philadelphia, made this comment through an attorney Thursday when asked for an interview: "The company is focused on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead."

Salah A. Mekkawy, still listed on Pitcairn Properties' website as chairman and chief executive, is now chief operating officer at a $375,000 salary, the settlement said.

The only disclosure about the constitution of Pitcairn's new board was that company founder James F. Jungé, who married into the Pitcairn family, was resigning but could attend board meetings as an observer. Jungé did not respond Thursday to a message left at his residence.

When the company is stabilized, it must stop using the Pitcairn name and no longer "hold itself out publicly as affiliated with the Pitcairn family and other Pitcairn businesses," the agreement said. Other businesses include the Pitcairn Trust Co.

The company history on the Pitcairn Properties website Thursday still started with the cofounding of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. in 1883 by John Pitcairn.