Author: Luisa Beltran

Parthenon Capital Partners has made an investment in Envysion. Financial terms weren’t announced. Louisville, Colo.-based Envysion provides managed video surveillance as a service for QSR, retail, wireless, convenience store and cinema customers.

PRESS RELEASE

Parthenon Capital Partners (“Parthenon”), a growth oriented private equity firm with offices in San Francisco and Boston, announced today that it completed an investment in Envysion, a leading provider of managed video surveillance as a service (“MVaaS”) for QSR, retail, wireless, convenience store and cinema customers. Proceeds from the transaction will be used to provide growth capital for the Company and to provide liquidity to certain shareholders.

Envysion is led by Chief Executive Officer, Matt Steinfort, who, with his highly accomplished team, has developed a cloud-based MVaaS solution providing powerful video-based business intelligence solutions to numerous retail end-markets. Mr. Steinfort, who co-invested alongside Parthenon in the transaction, said, “Since we first met the Parthenon team over a year ago, we have been consistently impressed with their deep understanding of our industry. They have dedicated significant time researching the industry and have come into the investment with a compelling thesis developed over that period. We have worked closely with the Parthenon team over the past year to develop a shared vision to continue the growth and innovation that has made Envysion an industry leader. We are confident that the resources and experience that Parthenon brings to the investment make it the right partner to help Envysion reach its full potential.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Matt and the Envysion team,” said Andrew Dodson, Partner at Parthenon Capital Partners. “Having spent years in and around the security and video surveillance industries, we believe that video-driven business intelligence is revolutionizing how owners and operators manage retail and restaurant locations. With better access to broadband and affordable data storage, operators can utilize cloud-based solutions like Envysion’s to dramatically enhance their loss prevention efforts and improve operational efficiency by combining analytics with video. We believe Envysion is the clear industry leader providing these capabilities.”

Headquartered in Louisville, CO, Envysion was founded in 2006 with the goal to provide sophisticated managed video surveillance solutions to customers who needed an easy-to-use solution to enhance their business intelligence capabilities and provide insight into their retail operations. Today, the Company’s solution is deployed in thousands of retail locations across the United States and Canada and has been proven to drive meaningful profitability improvements and prevent millions of dollars in potential losses.

David Ament, a Managing Partner at Parthenon, added, “Since its founding, Envysion has partnered with some of the largest, most sophisticated operators within the retail, restaurant and cinema industries. By providing these customers with powerful, easy-to-use, cloud-based solutions, Envysion has substantially increased the profitability of these customers, reduced losses, increased operational efficiency, and driven the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Parthenon is excited to partner with the Envysion team to build upon its track record of growth and lead the industry into its next phase of expansion.”

ABOUT ENVYSION

Envysion enables large, national retail, restaurant, cinema and convenience store operators to increase profitability 10-15% by putting easy-to-use, video-driven business intelligenceTM into the hands of the entire organization. Envysion created the Managed Video as a Service (MVaaS) model which transforms video surveillance into a strategic management tool that provides instant and unfiltered business insights to users across operations, loss prevention, marketing and human resources. The MVaaS model enables Envysion to accelerate innovation by rapidly responding to market opportunities and making new capabilities immediately available to all users. Envysion’s platform quickly scales to 1,000s of locations and 10,000s of users without straining the IT department or network. For more information about Envysion, please visit www.Envysion.com.

ABOUT PARTHENON CAPITAL PARTNERS

Parthenon Capital Partners is a leading mid-market private equity firm based in Boston and San Francisco. Parthenon utilizes niche industry expertise and a deep execution team to invest in growth companies in service industries. Parthenon seeks to be an active and aligned partner to management, either through recapitalization transactions or by backing new executives. Parthenon has particular expertise in business services, financial and insurance services and healthcare, but seeks any service, technology or delivery business with a strong value proposition and proprietary know-how. Parthenon’s investment team has deep experience in corporate strategy, capital markets and operations, enabling the firm to pursue complex, multi-faceted value creation opportunities. For more information, visit www.parthenoncapitalpartners.com.

Thompson Street Capital Partners has acquired FocusVision Worldwide. Financial terms were not announced. Stamford, Conn.-based FocusVision provides video transmission, analysis and archive solutions.

PRESS RELEASE
Thompson Street Capital Partners (TSCP), a private equity firm
based in St. Louis, announced today that it has partnered with management to acquire FocusVision
Worldwide, Inc. (FocusVision) of Stamford, Connecticut. Terms of the transaction were not
disclosed.
FocusVision is the leading global provider of web-based video streaming, archiving and analytical
solutions for the qualitative market research industry. Said Jim Cooper, Senior Managing Partner,
TSCP, “We’re very excited to work with such a talented group. The FocusVision team successfully
established the company at the forefront of a rapidly growing global market for web-enabled market
research tools and we anticipate even greater growth going forward.”
FocusVision CEO Eric Grosgogeat commented, “We are thrilled to partner with Thompson Street.
They have a strong track record of providing strategic advice and investing in their businesses to
help accelerate growth both organically and through acquisitions. We are confident that through this
alliance, our clients, research agencies and facility partners can expect to see new and improved
services to enhance the user experience and broaden our product suite.”
Thompson Street Capital Partners (www.tscp.com) is a St. Louis-based private equity firm that
invests in service, distribution and manufacturing businesses via recapitalizations, management
buyouts, corporate divestitures and family businesses in transition. Founded in 2000, TSCP has
managed more than $800 million in private equity capital and is currently investing its third fund.
TSCP partners with management teams to increase value by accelerating growth, both organically
and via complimentary acquisitions.
FocusVision (www.focusvision.com) is the leading global provider of live video transmission,
analysis and archive solutions for the qualitative market research industry. With transmission
solutions for all venues, including the largest global network of focus group facilities, FocusVision
delivers the highest audio and video quality, reliability and security for the most advanced research
organizations in the world. FocusVision has approximately 100 employees and offices in the US,
the UK and Singapore.

The Hilco Organization said Friday that Antony Karabus was named president of its SD Retail Consulting practice. Greg Rubin, previously CEO of SD Retail, has been appointed Chairman of SD Retail Consulting.

PRESS RELEASE

The Hilco Organization announced today that Antony Karabus, a retail industry veteran and founder of Karabus Management, a leading retail advisory firm (which he sold to an international consulting firm in 2008), has been appointed President of its SD Retail Consulting practice.  Karabus brings a new strategic focus to the SD practice. His leadership as a valued advisor to top retail executives is added to the historic operations expertise that SD Retail Consulting has delivered to retail clients over many years.  SD Retail and Hilco will leverage its vast network of retail clients and financial capital to deliver innovative client solutions and meet the challenges of a changing retail landscape.

“We’re thrilled to have Antony Karabus join the Hilco Organization.  He has built a reputation for helping retailers strengthen their performance and achieve profitable growth,” said Jeffrey B. Hecktman, Chairman and CEO of Hilco. “Antony’s deep understanding of strategy, merchandising and working capital improvement combined with his exceptional industry relationships with the top retailers worldwide makes him the ideal choice to take our current consulting business to the next level,” Hecktman said.

“It’s an honor to join Jeff Hecktman and the Hilco team with the goal of developing the next great retail consulting model backed by the tremendous resources of Hilco,” stated Antony Karabus. “Today’s retail CEOs are faced with a number of challenges including a more discerning and challenged consumer, adapting to the digital landscape and omni-channel distribution, and a highly competitive retail climate… they have little margin for error, and our consulting practice must provide solutions to address all of these issues, ultimately creating a better experience for the customer and improved shareholder value,” said Karabus.

A retail industry veteran, Antony Karabus brings over 25 years of experience to SD Retail Consulting.  Mr. Karabus founded Karabus Management in 1990 and grew the business to more than 50 senior retail professionals and more than 100 successful retail client engagements.   He has a solid track record of working with retailers and private equity firms and helping them improve their financial and operational performance.  With a vast network of industry relationships, he has advised numerous leading retailers in the department store, convenience, specialty, supermarket and big box sectors.

Greg Rubin, previously CEO of SD Retail, has been appointed Chairman of SD Retail Consulting.  The firm will continue to have Mr. Rubin’s expertise and advice. He will remain involved in client development and service for the practice.  A number of additional highly experienced industry professionals have also joined the SD Retail Consulting team this month.  “We need the additional top talent to provide the thought leadership that clients demand today,” said Karabus.

Initially, SD Retail Consulting will focus on retail clients operating primarily in the US and European markets.  Over time, SD Retail Consulting expects to leverage the global reach of Hilco to expand its focus to other markets.

THE SD RETAIL CONSULTING MODEL

SD Retail Consulting has the expertise and experience to design and implement strategic growth platforms that add value to capital, identify new opportunities to grow sales, merchandise margins and optimize working capital, while better managing costs to effectively enhance profitability and shareholder value.

The SD Retail Consulting model offers its retail clients a more complete assessment of their entire business than has been traditionally offered by many firms.  In order to unlock shareholder value, the SD Retail model recognizes the importance of comprehensively assessing multiple key aspects of the business, including merchandising, planning and allocation, the in-store customer experience, supply chain, inventory, real estate, the support infrastructure, technology effectiveness and the raising of capital required to support growth strategies.

Key to SD Retail Consulting’s market differentiation is the firm’s ability to access The Hilco Organization’s extensive network of complementary firms, including Hilco Real Estate, Hilco Merchant Resources, Hilco Streambank, Hilco Brands, and Hilco Corporate Finance – critical areas of focus for today’s retailers.  For more information on SD Retail Consulting visit our website at http://www.sdretail.com.

ABOUT HILCO TRADING LLC.

Headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois (USA), Hilco is a privately-held, diversified financial and operational services firm whose principal competency is understanding and maximizing the value of business assets, including retail, consumer and industrial inventory; machinery and equipment; real estate; accounts receivable; intellectual property; and, going-concern enterprises.  Through 500 professionals operating on five continents, Hilco helps companies and their professional advisors assess asset value, maximize value for said assets through asset monetization solutions, and enhance value through advisory and consulting solutions.  Hilco serves retailers, wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers, directly and through their lenders, investors and advisors, which can include private equity firms, hedge funds, investment banks, law firms, turnaround professionals, accounting professionals, bankruptcy trustees and receivers.  For more information please visit our web site: www.hilcotrading.com.