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9/30/2011
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$2.00/OCTOBER 3 - 9, 2011
Private equity outfits beat odds Amid difficult climate, local firms notch investor commitments By MICHELLE PARK mpark@crain.com
If, as they say, the ability to raise funds separates winners from losers, it appears we have winners in our midst. A number of local private equity firms have closed this year on tens and hundreds of millions of dollars of investor commitments amid what some call the toughest fundraising environment in decades. “If you’ve been able to raise
money since the global financial crisis, odds are you are a survivor,” said Stewart Kohl, co-CEO of The Riverside Co., which in mid-September announced it had “bucked a continued challenging fundraising market” and raised $37 Kohl million more than it had targeted for its most recently closed fund. Others attracting investors include Linsalata Capital Partners in May-
field Heights, Resilience Capital Partners in Beachwood and Cuyahoga Capital Partners in Cleveland, according to firm officials and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Riverside this year raised commitments totaling about $137 million; Linsalata, just shy of $295 million; Resilience, more than $162 million; and Cuyahoga Capital, nearly $85 million.
INSIDE: A closer look at the number of funds closed and aggregate capital raised in a five-state area. Page 8 The fundraising, however, is taking longer than it did before the recession, private equity insiders say. Whereas before the downturn, fundraising would require about a year, Riverside’s most recently closed fund took about a year and a half to raise, Mr. Kohl said. “Investors are far more cautious than they used to be about making commitments to illiquid investments,” See EQUITY Page 8
SEEING ROOM TO GROW
GCP to urge area flyers to utilize merged line Effort’s goal is to prove hub’s value at Hopkins By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com
Mike is a road warrior. He already has flown for business 25 weeks this year, only mildly off the pace from his peak flying days during 2004 to 2009, when he was in the air for work more than 40 weeks a year. And he prefers to fly on Continental Airlines. “Their customer service is amazing,” said Mike, who asked that his full name not be used because he isn’t permitted by his company to talk to media.
US Endoscopy finds opportunity with new building, entrance into urology market Story by DAN SHINGLER dshingler@crain.com
FILE PHOTO/MARC GOLUB
Continental’s service garage at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
JANET CENTURY
US Endoscopy chief operating officer Tony Siracusa holds two products the company makes that go into endoscopes.
P
eople keep getting older, living longer and wanting their surgeons to be less intrusive when conducting procedures they need more often — and as a result, US Endoscopy in Mentor keeps getting bigger. The company is filling up its fourth building, this one 70,000 square feet in size, located on Heisley Road within a stone’s throw of its other three facilities.
EDITORIAL: Businesses should consider long-term bottom line when choosing travel options. Page 10
US Endoscopy bought the building at the start of this year and has been spending much of the time since refurbishing it to serve as a manufacturing and assembly plant. The new building once was a medical device plant for a competitor, C.R. Bard Inc., but it has been vacant for most of the last decade, said Tony Siracusa, US Endoscopy’s chief operating
But Mike can’t always fly his favorite airline. “We have to book our flights through a corporate booking engine, and if you’ve got a (price) gap of a certain amount, it won’t let you book the Continental flight if that’s a significantly higher price,” Mike said. “You have to take the lowest fare within a range.” As Mike’s case illustrates, the attention companies pay to the effect of business travel on their bottom lines is a key hurdle facing an emerging effort to ensure that the merged Continental and United airlines
See ROOM Page 19
See AIR Page 5
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LEGAL AFFAIRS Lawyers and courts debate the use of social media in legal settings ■ Page 13 PLUS: ADVISER ■ JUDGING THE SYSTEM ■ & MORE
Entire contents © 2011 by Crain Communications Inc. Vol. 32, No. 40