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Warhorse Leadership to Maximize Future Value Isleworth Capital Partners, LLC is devoted to investing in mid-size manufacturing and technical service companies. Taking time to profile the firm, was Founding Partner, Frank J. Feraco. Established in 2004, Isleworth Capital Partners, LLC is devoted to investing in mid-size manufacturing and technical service companies. The company consists of a rigorous team of 40 year experienced CEO’s and Senior Executives, with extensive operational experience that they have been translating into the M&A and Private Equity world since the firm’s inception 13 years ago. ICP concentrates on acquisitions with revenues from $20-300 million; it is industry agnostic but has a particular interest in manufacturing, distribution, and technical services; it prefers exclusive transactions precipitated by corporate divestitures or legacy planning for private owners. Also, it has the strongest interest where it can identify untapped growth potential. Its senior team of seven represents with more than 230 years of collective experience, 300 transactions, and typical returns ranging from three to eight times the initial investment during a five year period. The experience of leadership brought by each carefully selected senior member has provided a natural resistance to “groupthink”, resulting in
creative “out of the box” solutions and investment practices. This aspect of its corporate culture is expected to continue to be a distinguishing factor for the firm and its constituents. The focus of each acquisition is to deploy the support of needed capital and other resources to make the business better. They like to refer to their extensive experience as providing “Warhorse Leadership to maximize future value”. In each acquisition, ICP provides support through ongoing strategic Board interaction and, where prudent, ICP will augment the management team’s capabilities with its own executives, up to and including the partner level, when needed. This is what happened with the acquisition of Dutchland Plastics, whereby one of the partners led this excellent company forward from being financially stressed to stability and dramatic growth within a two year period. ICP is a private investment company, not a PE fund, and does not have the external pressure to exit investments at a pre-defined time. ICP invests in opportunities where it partners with management teams to create additional value and align critical actions to meet or
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exceed shared objectives. Its acquisitions are funded with the company’s capital, capital from key family office relationships, and with aligned individual investors. This approach affords significant advantages to all constituencies: Intermediaries can take confidence in presenting ICP as a prospective acquirer to sellers, expecting ongoing dialogue at all senior levels, resulting in efficient and timely closing. Banks will have a partner that they can rely on to have “skin in the game” every time, and one that values the trust that comes from ongoing business relationships. Management Teams can rest easier at night knowing that a supportive and capable partner shares their concerns, and brings deep and broad experience to the table with them every day and in every way that it’s needed. Sellers can be confident that ICP has the best interests of the continuing business as its first consideration, extending the long term value basis for all stakeholders, continuity for the management team posttransaction, and transparent reporting to all concerned.
ICP evaluates opportunities throughout the continental U.S. and Alaska, with select international considerations in Canada, Europe, Mexico and Asia. During the next 10 years, they expect to continue to build a selective portfolio of niche manufacturing and technical services companies, while looking for synergistic characteristics among common technologies that fit future consolidation objectives. Synergistic “bolt on acquisitions” to its core investments are a norm for this company. ICP finds Private Equity to be a rapidly growing investment allocation with increased popularity among institutional and individual investors. As with any such trend, there is the somewhat predictable trajectory in which the availability of too much side lined capital, with corresponding pressure to get it deployed, is resulting in transaction multiples escalating during the past year. They find the current situation embodies a sellers’ market. Increasing multiples, as a result of additional capital inflows, leads to the risk of disappointing returns, capital reallocation away from certain sectors, and the “bust” that follows the “boom.” Given that they are long term investors,