Investment Strategy
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Our investment
strategy is to invest in privately held, operating companies in the
Southeast with established revenues and cash flows, centered in the
industries of manufacturing, value added distribution, consumer
products, business services, and healthcare. In so doing, we hope to
build significant shareholder wealth for our partners, while minimizing
many of the risks inherent in private equity investing. The key steps
to execute our strategy are to:
Invest in basic industry firms with established revenues and cash flows.
By focusing on basic industries that have stood the test of time, we
seek to avoid technological obsolescence. We will be users of
technology, but not developers of it. By focusing on firms with a
successful history of operations, we seek to avoid the many perils of
start-ups where the business plan and/or the management team is
unproven.
Invest in operating firms in the lower end of the middle-market in the Southeast.
Operating companies are what
we and our investors know. The lower middle-market is attractive to us
as we believe it is underserved, therefore presenting more of a value
opportunity than markets that are highly sought, by both larger
strategic and financial investors. The Southeast is our geographic
focus as it is a well-diversified region of the country that we know
extensively and can readily access. We spend a great deal of time
developing strategy, building management teams, and monitoring
performance, which we believe can best be accomplished in person. As a
result, we believe this market provides the best opportunity for
superior, risk-adjusted returns.
Utilize a flexible approach in structuring our investments. We
maintain a flexible approach in structuring transactions, as each
investment opportunity requires a unique strategy for the capital needs
of the business and its ownership. Therefore, we will invest in common
stock or preferred stock, on either a majority or minority ownership
basis.
Invest in partnership with management. We
are actively involved in each investment we make and provide strategic
operating and financial guidance by actively participating in
board-level meetings and regularly reviewing operating and financial
performance. However, we do not seek to operate our portfolio companies
on a day-to-day basis. We believe that can best be accomplished by a
seasoned, talented, and committed management team that is financially
incented to build shareholder wealth in the business. |