Sureties Step in as Southland Holdings Reports Big Loss
Parent company sustains blow from American Bridge court verdict
A court judgment on the controversial Washington Convention Center addition in Seattle delivered a financial blow to American Bridge and its parent, Southland Holdings.
The parent company of American Bridge Co. and Oscar Renda Contracting says it is now largely financed by some of its sureties after reporting a significant loss in 2025.
Southland Holdings Inc. last month reported losses in the fourth quarter of $216 million on $104 million in revenue and for the entire year of $306 million on $772 million in revenue.
The biggest blow to the company was a $57-million judgment against it by a Washington State court judge in January related to steel erector work on the $1.4-billion Washington State Convention Center addition in Seattle, completed several years ago. The joint venture contractor on that project, a combination of Clark Construction and Lease Crutcher Lewis, had blamed American Bridge for months of delayed completion.
The lawsuit, filed in 2023 in state court, also cited as defendants the companies that supplied performance bonds to American Bridge, Fidelity & Deposit/Zurich and Liberty Mutual.
American Bridge in its defense blamed the joint venture and Covid-19 for the delays.
Although Southland intended to appeal as of Dec. 31, 2025, some of its sureties entered into negotiations with Clark-Lewis and settled the matter, Southland Holdings reported.
The sureties also agreed to pay an additional $26.5 million to Clark-Lewis to cover costs, fees and prejudgment interest.
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Under the settlement announced earlier this month, Southland will begin repaying the sureties the total amount owed, about $82 million, starting next March.
The company's sureties have also had to step in to finance continuing work on some projects and have assumed $110 million of Southland's remaining debt.
Frank Renda, Southland’s president and chief executive, said the sureties replaced the company's senior lender and characterized that as a "significant vote of confidence in our team" creating "financial flexibility to focus on the project execution of our $2-billion backlog."
“While I am disappointed in this quarter’s results, I am fully accountable for our results and am committed to the strategic plan we have launched to move Southland forward," Renda told investors.
Based in Grapevine, Texas, Southland (NYSE-SLND) also owns Johnson Bros. Corp., a bridge and marine-based contractor, and tunneling contractors Southland Contracting and Mole Constructors.
Southland said its loss was "driven primarily" by the Washington State Convention Center charge.
In addition to that setback, Southland Holdings also reported that its Oscar Renda unit, which performs water-related work, had been terminated for convenience from the Portland, Ore., Bull Run Filtration plant project, reducing the company backlog by about $160 million.
Renda, at the investor conference, thanked the company's staff, stakeholders and sureties "for sticking with us through this difficult period."
The Washington State Convention Center addition project, which straddled a major thoroughfare, has seen plenty of controversy, including the termination of a previous joint venture prime contractor.
