Approach

We invest in companies with strong management teams, a stable history of profitability, and defensible niches. We look for opportunities to improve top and bottom line growth through enhancement of personnel, strategy, and technology. Attractive companies have the ability to differentiate themselves and sustain their core competencies. Our team looks for companies that have key managers interested in the continued growth of their business, and Appareo and management work hard to identify additional services and offerings that make strategic sense.

Investment Size: We look for opportunities to invest from $1 million to $25 million in each transaction. We will opportunistically consider larger or smaller deals in unique circumstances.

Industries: Our team has experience investing in numerous industries including manufacturing, distribution, logistics, oil field services, automotive, media, transaction processing, data and internet companies, real estate, construction services, agriculture, outdoor advertising, consumer products, wireless telecommunications and financial service-oriented businesses.

Geography: We prefer companies whose primary activity is in the United States.

The makeup of Appareo’s investors gives Appareo flexibility that strategic investors and funds may not have. We do not have time constraints on how long we can own businesses and prefer to look at “long-term” investments. We are patient investors and take a long-term perspective by aligning incentives between all parties, including portfolio company founders/owners who typically retain a significant stake in their company. We motivate key management team members to share upside in their company’s growth through performance-based compensation and long-term equity incentives.

The foundation and most valuable asset of each of our businesses is the people. Because we focus on small to medium-sized businesses, we view our acquisitions as partnerships with sellers and we work hard to maintain the employee, customer, and community relationships that the sellers have built over the years. We often create programs for incremental profit sharing with management and other personnel. The principals of Appareo invest their own capital alongside our investors and portfolio company founders/managers in every transaction. As a result, we personally share the risks of every investment, ensuring that incentives are aligned and that we are dedicated to prudently managing and growing each of our portfolio companies into successful industry leaders.

Appareo’s involvement in the management of our companies varies depending on the existing management structure. We actively try to add value, but we also recognize and respect the knowledge and input of all our management teams and employees. After all, the most value-add opportunity exists in the operator’s understanding of how best to accommodate its customers. As an investor, we strive to maintain an approachable atmosphere, welcoming new ideas and input from all our management teams and employees.

Our team has decades of experience investing in and building companies. We have a long track record of working with entrepreneurs, families and management teams as they steer through the challenges of taking their businesses to the next level. We combine the expertise of our entrepreneurs and management teams with our own extensive operational experience to build companies that are performance leaders in their sector. We also leverage a vast network of seasoned advisors and industry experts to open doors to new opportunities, provide industry insight, facilitate growth strategies, and serve on the Board of Directors of our portfolio companies.

Appareo partners with high net worth individuals, family offices and institutions that are seeking alternative investment opportunities prudently managed by a team with a history of generating strong returns to investors. Over the past two decades, our team has been involved in more than $2 billion in financial transactions through advisory roles, direct investments, capital raises, and C-level management roles. We have deployed and managed well over $100 million in private company investments. In addition to investing on behalf of a committed following of investors, we personally invest significant amounts in each deal we close.

Because operational support is an important aspect of our strategy, Appareo structures equity investments to proactively protect our interests and those of our co-investors. We typically require board representation and other protections as part of an investment structure. We prefer a controlling stake in our investments but are willing to consider a minority stake with the appropriate minority protections.