A $27 million bet on a Fort Worth nitrile glove factory has swung back hard on Colliers’ Minneapolis financing arm, which is now staring down a stack of lawsuits from frustrated community banks. Lenders say they were steered into the deal while Colliers collected hefty fees, only to be left with a busted project and scraps from the equipment sell-off. At the center of the mess is Rhino Health’s Fort Worth plant, which creditors say never made it to commercial production and whose machinery pulled in only a token bid when it was auctioned.
Banks say Colliers took fees while the factory sputtered
In court filings, lenders accuse Colliers of raising $27 million from six community banks, including a $5 million commitment from St. Cloud-based Stearns Bank, to finance equipment for the Rhino Health facility. The suits claim Colliers collected more than $2 million in fees while disclosing only $750,000 of that amount to the banks, and that Rhino received the full $27 million in February 2023. A banking expert hired by the plaintiffs described some of Colliers’ conduct as “tantamount to…..