Investment Strategy

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From years of experience, we have developed an investment strategy built around sector focus and specific investment criteria. When we make an investment, we provide substantial strategic, operational and financial resources to the business to help assure its future success.

Sector Focus

SFW invests only in businesses where our knowledge of the relevant technology, science, competitive marketplace and service requirements gives us confidence in our ability to evaluate investments and to assist management teams in growing their companies and building value. We focus on select segments of the healthcare and industrial sectors with particular emphasis on test, measurement and diagnostics businesses and highly engineered industrial products. Our specific focus segments include:
pharma and medical laboratory research tools and instruments  
medical diagnostic and testing equipment  
reagents and other consumables used in laboratory research/testing  
providers of diagnostic information  
outsourced diagnostic, analytical or inspection services  
outsourced research services  
     

Investment Criteria

SFW typically invests from $15 to $75 million of equity in each company. We invest in established businesses (including family businesses, public companies and corporate division carve-outs) where there is some history of profitability and where the company has a solid market position in its core markets.

We look for situations where we can apply our resources to increase the growth of the company or where we can help drive improvements in the quality, efficiency and profitability of operations.

We are willing to pursue investments with significant structural or operational complexity and have done so successfully in the past.

Resources

Our deep understanding and extensive experience in our focus segments allows us to contribute well informed, relevant expertise to each company. Over the past 15 years, we have worked closely with the management teams of some of the most successful companies in these segments to develop growth strategies, improve operations and identify high potential add-on acquisitions. We have a broad network of sector-specific relationships, which provide the companies in which we invest resources that they would not have as stand-alone businesses.

We also enjoy excellent relationships in the financial community and have completed numerous complex debt and equity financings. We currently manage over $300 million in equity capital. Our investors include endowments, foundations, family investment offices and financial institutions. Several of these investors have active co-invest and debt programs which provide significant additional resources for larger investments.