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The underlying Philosophy of
Blackhawk Partners investment approach consists of filling
in the funding gap between angel funding and major private
equity groups by being the lead investor and supplying all
the capital required through exit. We work with "killer
teams" to build great businesses, first last and foremost
with respect for the individual paramount.
Our
investment approach consists of filling in the funding gap
between angel funding and major private equity groups by
being the “lead” investor and supplying all the capital
required through exit. The core of our investment philosophy
is a long-term partnership with talented operating
executives as we are always looking for operating executives
who have a track record of success and an investment thesis
for the type of business they would like to acquire and
which we can back.
Our traditional “sweet
spot” in terms of “global” private or public equity
investments mainly consists of investing $1
million to $25 million over time in growth companies
already cash flowing at least $2 million upon funding.
......although now that we have entered as of February 11,
2008 into a strategic investment and deal relationships with
two of the larger Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) in the
World, we could commit as much as $100 million per deal as
long as our usual investment parameters stand.
Our traditional focus is engaging alongside the
companies’ management teams we're backing in a well executed
"consolidation" strategy while providing them with the
financial, human capital and other resources needed to bring
those companies to exponential growth within 3-5 years and
exiting within that time frame through the sale of such
built up entities to another financial/strategic investor.
In addition
to the benefit of more aggressive capital than most “capital
pools” out there, our successful activity results from an
adherence to a set of defined criteria. When a company is in
our comfort zone, we are closers.
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Our General
Investment Strategy
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The best
investment opportunities arise when macro economic
conditions align with a unique and timely ability to
execute. We believe that Blackhawk Partners, Inc. is in
a position to identify exceptional companies in
attractive industries, to execute on the purchases, to
drive improvements in financial performance and realize
value accretion through the private and public equity
markets.
We target
business services companies valued at $5 million to $250
million with the following attributes:
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Process intensive
businesses and/or businesses with differentiating
assets.
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Fragmented competitive
landscape with the potential for both organic growth
and growth through consolidation.
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Companies lending
themselves to a partnership with Blackhawk Partners,
Inc., with the seller retaining a continued
involvement in the success of the business and the
success of the Group.
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Diverse client base with
strong retention traits.
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Positive cash flow, which
can be improved with better operating efficiencies.
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Our Investment Criteria
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The Blackhawk Partners team must
be able to add value to the venture under consideration
in addition to capital. Key attributes we look for in
investing in businesses are:
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Clear identification of
the company’s potential customer’s pain.
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A sustainable advantage in
relieving that pain better than anyone else.
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A validated business model
that can demonstrate a reasonable chance of
achieving $100+ million annual turnover within 3
years; whether through organic growth and/or
acquisitions
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The venture must be
scalable and global.
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An absolute
"killer team"
that possesses the skills, passion and connectivity
in their industry to execute the business plan and
meet the priorities of all their stakeholders and
most importantly, we have to like them.
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Our Industry
Focus
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We target companies in industries
that can benefit from leveraging differentiating assets
through the capital markets, or where process intensive
activities can be improved through off shoring,
adaptation of technology or both. Key sectors we focus
on are:
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Asset management services
including funds management throughout the asset
class sectors.
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"Clean fuel" and other
alternative energy technologies and projects.
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Global broadband telecom
and networking infrastructure.
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Global security and
intelligence services including software
applications and materials sciences.
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Healthcare delivery and
processing services including ambulatory surgical
centers, data and billing management and claims
processing.
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Our Basic
Rules of Engagement
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We don’t accept business
plans as submissions for funding, rather we ask that
entrepreneurs submit the answers to our “Investment
screening Template” which will be provided upon
request.
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If the answers are
compelling we will schedule a meeting with the
entrepreneurs and their advisors for them to present
their opportunity to our whole team.
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If the presentation is
compelling and we like the entrepreneurs, we will
then ask them for their business plan.
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Within 2 weeks we will
either offer them a term sheet or reject the
submission and give them some feedback as to why.
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Blackhawk then works with
the management team to validate their business
model, perform the due diligence and refine their
business plan for 1 – 3 months while we develop and
execute the shareholder agreements to fund them.
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Once funded, one member of
the Blackhawk Partners team or a member of our Board
of Advisors will sit on the portfolio company’s
board and supervise the continuous mentoring,
coaching, counseling and guiding of the portfolio
company’s management team until we exit the
investment.
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Go for a business that
any idiot can run - because sooner or later, an idiot probably is
going to run it.
Ziad K. Abdelnour, President & CEO
Blackhawk Partners, Inc. |
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