MotionTech Automation:
Acquired: December 2010
Location:  St. Paul, Minnesota
Website: www.motiontech.com
Investment Partners: Management and Medallion Capital

Motion Tech Automation, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a distributor and custom solutions provider of precision motion control (“PMC”) components and assemblies, serving OEMs and industrial companies in the packaging, medical, factory automation, semiconductor, and aerospace/defense markets.  MTA participates in an attractive industry with high long-term growth prospects.  Trends toward automation and flexible manufacturing are driving growth in precision motion control across a number of industries.

Cardinal Equity Partners partnered with management and Medallion Capital Partners to complete the recapitalization of the company in December 2010.

Contour Industries, Inc
Acquired: January 2011
Location: Surgoinsville, TN
Website: www.contourind.com
Investment Partners: Management

Contour Industries, located in Surgoinsville, Tennessee, is a niche fabricator – cutting, drilling, screen printing and tempering – of glass parts primarily for appliance manufacturers and suppliers.  Founded in 1985, Contour has a proven history of focusing on producing the highest quality products at the lowest competitive cost.  The company’s three high speed production lines will allow the pursuit in the solar and construction markets.

Cardinal Equity Partners partnered with an industry executive, Marc Massa, in January 2011 to purchase the business from the retiring founder.

Williams Sound Corporation
Acquired:  January 2011
Location:   Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Website:  www.williamssound.com
Investment Partners:  Management Team

Williams Sound Corporation, Inc. is a 30 year old global designer, manufacturer, and marketer of highly-engineered assistive listening devices (ALD) and systems.  Today the company is a leader in the ALD market providing personal listening devices for consumers for both personal use (e.g., T.V. listening systems and amplified telephones) and for use in large area listening areas (for places of worship, cinemas, and government buildings for example) and has significant growth opportunities in ancillary applications including language interpretation and tour guide markets.

Cardinal Equity Partners led the recapitalization in January 2011 to facilitate liquidity for a non-active shareholder and to provide for more aggressive sales and marketing activities.

Guardian Pharmacy LLC 
Acquired: July 2003
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Website: www.guardianpharmacy.net
Investment Partners: Management Team, Indiana-based Private Investment Partnership

Guardian Pharmacy LLC is a closed-door, institutional pharmacy focused on meeting the needs of individuals that reside in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. We, along with another Indiana-based private investment partnership, invested in Guardian to facilitate a Recapitalization transaction for the owner of an assisted-living pharmacy in Phoenix, AZ. With the recruitment of a senior management team that has an outstanding track record of building specialty pharmacies, Guardian Pharmacy is positioned to take advantage of market opportunities created by the combination of an outstanding demographic trend and a customer service void brought on by industry over-consolidation.

New Aqua LLC
Acquired: February 1997
Location: Avon, Indiana
Website: www.ilovemywater.com
Investment Partners: Management Team

New Aqua LLC, d/b/a Aqua Systems, is one of the largest independently-owned providers of water softeners, drinking water systems, and bottled water in the eastern half of the United States.  We purchased a controlling interest in 1997 from the company founder, while providing the next generation of management with significant equity appreciation potential. Since the acquisition by Cardinal, Aqua Systems has expanded from a single location in Avon, Indiana to eight company-owned stores. Aqua Systems has also built a wholesale dealer network, which now numbers more than 300 dealers in the central and southern portions of the US and has developed a division specifically focused on the unique needs of Commercial and Industrial users. Aqua Systems is currently focused on expanding its reach to a broad, multi-state area.

Brownstone Publishing LLC
d/b/a Angie’s List
Investment Date: August 2001
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Website: www.angieslist.com
Investment Partners: Management Team, Individuals,Indiana-based Private Investment Partnerships, Institutional Investors

Brownstone Publishing LLC, doing business as Angie’s List, is a subscription-based service that compiles and maintains customer satisfaction reports on local service providers from its subscribers. This exclusive database of reports is then available on demand by their subscribers via their state-of-the-art website or by telephone. These customer-driven satisfaction reports provide Angie’s List subscribers with up to the minute feedback on the best local service providers available. In addition to these valuable real-time reports, Angie’s List publishes a monthly magazine filled with helpful tips for homeowners. We provided Growth Capital in order to assist the company in its geographic expansion. At the time of our investment, Angie’s List was providing its services to subscribers in 5 markets. Today it provides its services nationally and is evaluating international expansion.

Cardianal Golf LLC 
d/b/a Prairie View Golf Club
Formed: June 1994
Location: Carmel, Indiana
Website: www.prairieviewgc.com
Investment Partners: None

Cardinal Golf LLC, doing business as Prairie View Golf Club, is a high end, daily fee golf club located on the northeast side of Indianapolis. As the only Robert Trent Jones, Jr. designed course in Indiana, Prairie View provides a unique golfing experience to players of all abilities. Construction of this award-winning course began in 1994, and it opened for play in 1996. Since that time, Prairie View has been providing the public with a true country club quality golfing experience each and every day.

Oak Security Group LLC 
Formed: April 2005
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Website: www.oaksecurity.com
Investment Partners: Management Team

Oak Security Group LLC offers a full range of access control solutions for institutions such as schools, universities, office buildings, medical facilities, and housing authorities. We formed Oak Security Group in aStart Up transaction by partnering with a management team that has over 200 years of combined experience in the access control industry. Oak Security Group sells quality Oak brand products, as well as a full range of industry leading solutions direct to the end user, thereby allowing Oak to provide a level of service and support not currently available in the market place. This product and service offering, when combined with their exclusive Encompass Security Design approach and best-of-class master key system capabilities, makes Oak Security Group uniquely qualified to meet the security needs of its customers.

Advanced Physical Therapy - Indianapolis, Indiana.  was the largest independently owned provider of physical and occupational therapy in Indiana when it was acquired by Cardinal Equity Partners in 2008.  In this partial recapitalization transaction, we enabled to the founder to diversify her net worth and assisted her in new growth initiatives including the establishment of several new clinics.  The business was sold to a strategic acquirer in 2011.

ASPEX, Inc.—Trafford, Pennsylvania. ASPEX manufactures and sells analytical microscopes used for numerous industrial and laboratory applications. We, along with other investors, provided growth capital to this company in 1995. This company was sold to a private equity group in 2005.

Better Way Products—New Paris, Indiana. Better Way is a high-quality fiberglass molding operation that is an OEM supplier to the Recreational Vehicle and Marine industries. Together with another investor, we acquired a majority ownership position in 2000. Over the next eight years, Better Way broadened its capabilities and more than doubled in size and profitability. We sold our interest back to the company through a management buyout in 2007.

BFG Supply Co. LLC—Burton, Ohio. BFG Supply Co. is one of the country’s largest distributors of greenhouse and nursery products and supplies. In this Recapitalization transaction, we purchased controlling interest in a company that began operations in 1950 and was in its second generation of family management. Our investment enabled the family to meet its goals of diversifying their net worth, yet still maintain a meaningful operational and financial stake in the company going forward. At the time of acquisition by Cardinal, the company had eight distribution warehouses in Michigan, Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania.  Under Cardinal’s stewardship, the company completed several acquisitions and opened new warehouses in adjacent territories, ultimately becoming one of the top 3 horticultural distributors in the United States.  The company was sold to a larger private equity group in 2010.

FURminator—St. Louis, Missouri.  Furminator was the leading producer of DeShedding products for the pet industry when it was acquired in 2008 jointly with Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney, another Indianapolis-based private equity firm.  Over the course of the investment period, we broadened the positioning of the company from deshedding to total pet coat care, expanded distribution, and successfully defended its patents against a number of infringements allowing the company to maintain its worldwide leadership position in the pet coat care segment.  The business was sold to a strategic acquirer in 2011.

Polar Ice Company—Indianapolis, Indiana. Cardinal acquired a controlling interest in Polar in a family legacy transaction in May 1998. Under our direction, Polar completed eight separate add-on acquisitions, increased top line sales by over 70%, and improved operating margins by approximately 150 basis points. The company was sold to a strategic buyer in February 2000.

Receivable Funding Corporation—Columbus, Ohio. RFC was a specialty finance company focusing on the telecommunications market. Cardinal, together with other investors, backed this company from start-up in 1995 to its eventual sale to a strategic buyer in 1999.

Steel Dynamics—Butler, Indiana. Cardinal acquired an equity interest in this flat-rolled steel mini-mill in 1995. Our position was liquidated through a public offering in early 1997.