Quoted on: mergers and acquisitions, private equity
Private EquityM&A Science
In this episode, Kison Patel continues his conversation with his former mentor, entrepreneur and real estate developer Jerry Cedicci. Cedicci shares his dealmaking playbooks, covering how to structure zero-down acquisitions via seller financing, how he reversed loan rejections from banks, and how to source materials directly to protect luxury margins. The episode culminates in a live advisory session where Cedicci helps Patel value and negotiate the acquisition of a direct competitor who refuses to share financial statements.
- Jerry Cedicci treats initial bank loan rejections as free underwriting audits rather than deal-killing dead ends. Read →
- Jerry Cedicci structures zero-down acquisitions by eliminating seller risk rather than negotiating purchase price concessions. Read →
- Jerry Cedicci eliminates general contractors entirely, contracting directly with individual trades to strip out intermediary markups on development projects. Read →
- Fixating on entry price haggling blinds buyers to asymmetric upside; capital functions like air, necessary to operate but dangerous as a primary focus. Read →
- Jerry Cedicci bans the phrase "trust me" across negotiations because verbal requests for trust trigger defensive suspicion from counterparties. Read →
Private EquityM&A Science
Kison Patel interviews his former mentor, real estate developer Jerry Cedicci, tracing how Cedicci went from being an orphaned immigrant in Chicago to building a multi-million-dollar real estate portfolio. Cedicci details how he built retail bakery cash flow, structured off-market real estate acquisitions, converted rejections into bank financing, and executed high-return property repositionings.
- Jerry Cedicci signed his Walton Street lease in Chicago despite landlord Edward Stler warning that the average American bakery generated only $450 per day. Read →
- Jerry Cedicci secured a 10-year fixed purchase option at $10 million while signing a retail lease for a 72,000-square-foot asset at 72 East Walton in Chicago. Read →
- Jerry Cedicci acquired a 44,000-square-foot industrial property at Lake and Carpenter in Chicago's Fulton Market for approximately $210,000 in the 1980s. Read →
- Jerry Cedicci created off-market real estate opportunities by separating the operating business from the physical real estate during seller negotiations. Read →
- Real estate developer Jerry Cedicci converted an outright commercial bank denial into an approved $3 million construction loan by interrogating the rejecting credit officer. Read →
Private EquityM&A Science
In this episode, real estate developer Jerry Cedicci shares his journey from growing up in the French state orphanage system to developing hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate across Chicago and Los Angeles. He details the origins of Café Croissant, the development of luxury residential and commercial properties, and the creative structuring tactics he used to acquire and reposition distressed assets. Host Kison Patel reflects on the early dealmaking instincts and negotiation lessons he learned working alongside Cedicci.
- Jerry Cedicci identified the upside of Chicago's Fulton Market meatpacking district by pattern-matching its layout and logistics directly to Les Halles in Paris. Read →
- Orphanage upbringing shaped an early tolerance for operating without institutional safety nets after losing both parents at age seven. Read →
- Jerry Cedicci entered the Chicago retail market in 1981 speaking no English and possessing zero commercial baking background. Read →
- Real estate developer Jerry Cedicci secured a $3 million construction loan at age 32 by transforming an initial lender rejection into an underwriting blueprint. Read →
- Jerry Cedicci acquired Chicago's distressed Wacker Hotel for $14 million and exited less than twelve months later for $24 million. Read →
- Jerry Cedicci bypassed a restrictive non-compete lease clause for a restaurant space on Walton Street by installing standing counters instead of traditional seating. Read →