Welcome! My name is Marek Olszewski and I’m the Managing Partner of Catalus Capital. Given the rising popularity of blogs, I was surprised to find there are almost none written by practitioners of private investing. It seems the industry is rather closed off to outsiders, so I feel a blog by a fund manager will be valuable. My first post will be an introduction, but in the future I will discuss specific deals I’ve worked on, share my views on the marketplace and current popular topics, and of course get Catalus some exposure (investors are rarely purely altruistic).
Catalus is a fund that invests in middle market companies, and has wide flexibility to consider a diverse set of opportunities. We would generally be placed in the Private Equity bucket, but more specifically are a mezzanine firm. We make minority investments in companies or projects, typically in the form of preferred equity, subordinated/senior debt, or mezzanine loans. Catalus does not buy entire companies, we don’t take control, and we don’t buy common equity unless it’s a part of a larger deal. We feel this role is the best way to execute our strengths, as we’re not business operators and don’t want to specialize in any one industry. Catalus wants every transaction to result in a genuine partnership. We help evaluate major decisions and projects, and want to reinvest in our partners after the initial deal.
Our target investment size is between $3 million and $20 million. This is an abnormally wide range, and over time you’ll find this isn’t our only atypical trait. Our first level of screening simply looks for cash flow of over $2 million in EBITDA, or assets that can serve as sufficient security for our investment. If a company has neither then we immediately, but politely, pass. The deals we consider fall into 3 categories:
1. Business Growth: A company has been in existence for a number of years, has been growing, and has been profitable. There is an experienced management team in place that is passionate and dedicated. They have identified an opportunity to expand, and require additional capital in order to execute. Examples can be an acquisition, purchasing more inventory, opening new locations, hiring, or buying a couple million dollars of tuna (true story, we passed).
2. Private Equity Financing: We will help finance a PE firm’s acquisition. They will typically put up 30-50% of the money as equity, and we will help finance the rest.
3. Asset Backed Lending: If someone has a hard asset that has a quantifiable value, we will consider lending against it. This can be anything from oil wells to real estate to an old military bunker (passed on that too).
If you have a deal for me to look at, please email me at marek@cataluscapital.com.
With regard to my background, before Catalus I was a Managing Director in Nasdaq’s Corporate Strategy/M&A group. We looked at acquiring companies around the world including financial technology firms, internet companies, workflow solution businesses, investor relations products, clearing funds, and exchanges. The very last deal I worked on was the NYSE bid. I also worked with the heads of Nasdaq’s five business units to grow and to determine their strategy. This corporate business experience helps me share a unique set of skills with our partners that most investment funds don’t have.
Before Nasdaq I was at Fieldstone Private Capital, an energy and infrastructure focused investment bank. I worked with large energy companies, developers of greenfield projects, and investment firms on transactions involving wind farms, ethanol plants, power plants, and oil/gas fields.
I attended the University of Pennsylvania, where I majored in Economics and got a minor in Urban Real Estate from the Wharton school. I’ve also passed the Level 2 CFA exam (haven’t quite had time to do Level 3 yet).
In high school and college I turned a hobby of selling and installing car parts into a small business brokering and dealing cars around the world. Around the same time I served as an advisor to an exotic car club start-up, Velocity Club. I had a supporting role in starting the business and completed my responsibilities the day of the launch party (it was a good one). The Velocity Club was how I originally met Michael Freeburg, my partner in Catalus. He runs and owns Greenwich Wealth Management, a firm with over $1 billion in client assets. Mike and I have worked on countless projects over the years and I am lucky to have met him. Without Mike, Catalus wouldn’t exist today.
Although I’m new to the blogging world, I’m excited about it. Tell me some topics you want to read about and hopefully we can learn from each other. Talk to you soon.
