Seaway Capital's Management Team was directly involved in the following transactions:
Annuity & Life Re Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ALRE) was a Bermuda-based, low cost provider of annuity and life reinsurance with expertise in the underwriting of reinsurance focused on mortality and investment risk. The company strategy was to take advantage of trends and growing demand for annuity and life reinsurance, which include the growth in sales of annuities, increased regulations and capital requirements of annuity and life insurers and the increasing use of multiple reinsurers by annuity and life insurer for risk diversification. The company went public and the investment was sold for a substantial gain. (Formation Capital)
BUYandHOLD.com was an online brokerage company focusing on providing cost-effective execution for long-term investors, such as those participating in Dividend Reinvestment Plans ("DRIPs") and Direct Stock Purchase Plans ("DSPPs"). BUYandHOLD's strategy centered on providing customers the lowest commissions and lowest investment dollar minimums of any current online brokerage firm. BUYandHOLD.com has advertising and joint marketing agreements with the National Association of Investors Corporation ("NAIC"), The Motley Fool (www.fool.com), The Drip Investor, and CNN Interactive. The company was merged into another online broker. (Growth Capital)
Centennial Communications Corp. or "SMR Direct" is a Denver- and Miami-based provider of analog specialized mobile radio ("SMR") (dispatch radio) services focused on Latin American emerging markets. The company is currently the leading SMR provider in Peru, the second largest SMR provider in Ecuador and is a major player in Chile. Centennial is aggressively pursuing additional acquisitions and spectrum licenses to broaden its telecom position in Latin American markets. (Growth Capital)
Empire Kosher Holdings, Inc. is the largest kosher manufacturer, marketer and distributor of premium branded chicken and turkey products in the United States. Empire Kosher's products have a strong market position, a premium brand image and recently won New York Times and Boston Globe quality and taste competitions. (Leveraged Buyout)
FlashPoint Technology Inc. was an early provider of embedded system software solutions for digital imaging appliances. The Company's software technology, marketed under the brand name "Digita," was a cross-vender, extensible, open development operating platform specifically designed for digital still cameras and photo printers. The Company had established relationships with several leading OEMs of digital cameras and printers including Eastman Kodak, Minolta, Sharp, and Seiko Epson Corporation. (Growth Capital)
Garage.com, Inc. (now called Garage Technology Ventures) is a Palo Alto-based Internet firm that offers entrepreneurs and investors an innovative, Web-based approach to high tech and medical sciences early stage venture financing and investing. Garage.com helps carefully screened entrepreneurs attract seed capital or "Angel" funding though web-based match up with registered Angel investors. Founding sponsors include Venture Law Group, Advanced Technology Partners, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Microsoft, ABD Services, Credit Suisse First Boston Technology Group, Heidrick & Struggles, Ben Rosen and Silicon Valley Bank.
Grapevine Communication, LLC owned and operated a cluster of television stations in medium-sized U.S. markets, all with major network affiliations: ABC (3), NBC (2) and FOX (2), including a recent acquisitions in Savannah, GA. Grapevine plans to aggressively pursue acquisitions of additional mid-market stations that can be improved operationally. (Leveraged Buyout)
GS AgriFuels Corporation is an early-stage company that manufactures and sells proprietary agrifuels and renewable energy production equipment and is developing facilities to produce and sell clean fuels and energy and other agriproducts from biomass utilizing proprietary technologies and industry know how. GS AgriFuels also makes both majority and minority investments in companies with which GS AgriFuels seeks to form strategic relationships and where management believes such investments offer the potential for capital appreciation. (Growth Capital)
ICON CMT Corp. is a tier-one Internet service provider, offering a value-added platform of communications, technology and professional services that combine to offer organizations end-to-end solutions for design, development and management of information and applications across its nationwide, ATM network backbone. In January 1998, Icon completed its IPO (NASDAQ: ICMT) and in January 1999, was acquired in an all-stock transaction by Qwest International Communications (NASDAQ: QWST), the 4th largest US long-distance company and a leader in the convergence of data, multimedia, Internet and voice communications. (Growth Capital)
KIK Corporation Holdings, Inc. is a leading North American manufacturer and distributor of private label household cleaning products and bleach with more than one third of the private label bleach and ammonia market. KIK produces 35 products within 7 household cleaning and laundry product categories that are sold in more than 12,000 North American retail outlets, including Wal-Mart, Kmart and Loblaws. (Growth Capital for Acquisitions)
Latitude 90, Inc. was a leading provider of strategic Internet marketing solutions for a select group of top Web publishers and advertisers. adMonitor, the Company's proprietary central advertising serving engine, provides extensive banner serving and tracking technology. Web site clients include BigYellow, Cdnow/Music Boulevard, 100hot, Hollywood.com, and Wall Street City. Advertising clients include or have included Visa, Microsoft, Intel, AT&T, Procter & Gamble and Ford Motor Company. (Senior Bridge Note, Warrants, and Growth Capital)
MapQuest.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: MQST) is the leading provider of online mapping solutions to businesses and provides customized maps, destination information and driving information to consumers. Its website, mapquest.com, ranks as a top five travel-related site and in February 1999 alone delivered over 76.5 million maps and over 14.2 million driving directions. The company also provides mapping technology and products for hotel reservation systems, driving directions, information kiosks, wireless directory systems and business websites. Customers include Hertz, Avis, Exxon and AAA. The company's Consumer Business also utilizes the National Geographic brand for marketing high quality maps, atlases and guides. In May 1999, MapQuest completed its IPO, issuing 4.6MM shares at $15 per share and was later acquired by AOL. (Growth Capital)
NextWave Telecom, Inc. ("NextWave") was formed to build and operate Personal Communications Services ("PCS") networks. In 1996, NextWave was named the winning bidder for PCS licenses representing 110 million POPs in the C-Block Auction held by the Federal Communications Commission and in 1997, was named the winning bidder for PCS licenses representing an additional 52.6 million POPs in the D-, E-, and F-Block Auction held by the FCC. In total, NextWave's licenses cover approximately 163 million POPs, representing the third largest number of licensed POPs among cellular and PCS licensees in the United States. (Spectrum Acquisition Capital)
PNE Media, LLC was formed through the consolidation of geographic "clusters" of medium-sized outdoor advertising companies. PNE has grown rapidly through acquisitions and, to date, has completed over approximately 15 acquisitions representing over 1,600 display faces (mostly billboards and posters). The company's strategy is to enhance and expand its presence in existing or contiguous geographic clusters through the continued acquisition at favorable multiples of "mom and pops" or underdeveloped outdoor properties with the intention of operational improvements. (Acquisition Capital)
Power Measurement Ltd. is a leading manufacturer and software developer of sophisticated power metering and energy management products and systems. The company pioneered digital power metering in the mid-1980's and for over a decade has been supplying integrated instrumentation and software solutions to power utilities, industrial and commercial facilities worldwide, and to some of the largest electric equipment manufacturers such as GE and Siemens. (Leveraged Buyout)
Regent Communications ("Regent" or the "Company") is a consolidator in the mid-market AM and FM radio industry, which is a vast and fragmented industry of approximately 250 markets. Regent's management team has a strong reputation both for acquiring and operating radio stations. This will be the fourth radio company build-up by management. (Acquisition Capital)
Scottish Annuity & Life Holdings, LTD. (NASDQ: SCOT) was a newly formed, low cost provider of customized variable life insurance products to high net worth individuals and families in the US and a provider of reinsurance for fixed annuities and similar contracts to insurers no longer actively offering such products. The Company is responding to the increasing demands of high net worth individuals and families for customized life insurance products that can be utilized as part of sophisticated estate planning strategies and to rapid growth in the annuity market. Scottish Life focuses on reinsuring blocks of existing fixed annuities or similar contracts. (Formation Capital)
Thermo Electric Wire and Cable was a market leader in the manufacture of specialty insulated thermocouple wire and cable used primarily for extreme temperature instrumentation, sensors and controls. The company sells globally. Some of its largest customers include Alcoa, Boeing, GE Turbines, GE Aircraft Engines, Hewitt, and Cooperheat. (Leveraged Buyout) Tiffen Manufacturing Corporation was the leading manufacturer and distributor of photographic filters and accessories for amateur and professional photographers and the television and motion picture industries. Tiffen offers over 10,000 SKUs in more than 25 distinct brand names and distributes to over 7,000 retail outlets. The Company has a strategic alliance with Kodak which allows Tiffen to use the Kodak brand to market a variety of Tiffen's camera accessory categories. . (Leveraged Buyout)
VaxGen, Inc. (NASDAQ: VXGN) is a leading-edge biotech company that is in Phase III clinical trials in the US and Thailand for an AIDS vaccine. The company's vaccine, AIDSVAXTM, is the first preventative HIV vaccine to enter Phase III human clinical trials. (No other prospective HIV vaccine has reached Phase II trials.) The company has an exclusive license from Genentech (a 25% shareholder in VaxGen) to a portfolio of patents on AIDSVAXTM and associated technology, consisting of 67 patents and 47 pending patent applications. On June 29, 1999, VaxGen successfully completed its IPO by issuing 3.1 million shares at $13 per share. (Growth Capital)
WiseBuys Stores, Inc. ("WiseBuys") was formed in 2003 to fill the major retail void left by the departure of Ames Department Stores in many smaller, rural communities in the Northeastern United States. With in-store partnerships with established retailers such as Payless ShoeSource and KB Toys, WiseBuys quickly established itself as a viable replacement for these underserved retail markets. WiseBuys currently operates five locations in northern and central New York but is seeking to expand to approximately 50 stores in NY, VT, CT, MA and PA.
Seaway Capital will consider investment opportunities in a number of different industries, including retail, media, business services, and manufacturing. SCI will also consider select technology investments.