Investment Approach & Philosophy

TOM has a number of public and private equity platforms, but in large measure, the capital we invest belongs to our active principals. Because of this, TOM can be extremely agile and flexible in investment decisions. For example:

TOM has no bureaucracy in making decisions, and can act very quickly when time is of the essence. As an independent, entrepreneurial organization we have the ability to close a transaction in a very short amount of time. We can make decisions quickly and have the experience and expertise to complete our due diligence efficiently.
TOM is not compelled to sell investments within any given time horizon. So we won’t start looking for the exit as soon as we have made an investment. We want to be, and will be, long-term participants in growth oriented businesses.
While having relatively straight-forward investment criteria, TOM is not dogmatically wed to them. TOM is not limited by a maximum investment amount or maximum equity interest, nor are we pigeonholed into only investing in particular kinds of businesses or asset classes.
TOM has shown itself to be very creative in structuring a deal to suit the particular circumstances of the seller, management, creditors and other stakeholders.
TOM can provide not just money, not just attitude … but actual help and assistance. We are focused on working with management in building capitalized enterprise value over the long term, instead of chasing short-term financial results.

In all that we do, we seek to establish financing structures that will position our businesses to best capitalize on business opportunities not only for today’s immediate requirements, but also for anticipated future requirements. Consequently, we welcome add-on investments to assist these businesses in further accelerating their growth.

TOM Capital makes strategic equity investments in a wide variety of businesses, so our investment screen does not automatically exclude many valid opportunities.

At the same time, TOM Capital has organized its investments into “platforms” – groups of businesses with common business processes, customers or asset classes. Our “platform champions” are liaisons with all of the management teams running similar businesses. Having businesses rationalized into platforms dramatically helps organize and accelerate any internal evaluation of a new opportunity, as well as other benefits.

A big part of our due diligence is focused on ensuring that there is a good personal fit with incumbent management, with aligned thinking. What TOM does differently is actively seeking out opportunities to share people, resources and ideas among the businesses we’re involved with, and to expand the capabilities of the people managing and operating businesses, by doing such things as:

Facilitating peer group meetings, where individuals can share their ideas and experiences with others in the same roles in other businesses;
Offering high potential individuals more challenging roles in other businesses;
Offering individuals the opportunity to work with us in evaluating and becoming involved in possible acquisitions; and
Offering enduring management teams the ability to participate in meaningful financial upside.

Investment Profile

There is no typical TOM Capital deal. We do not specialize in any industry. The best evidence of this approach is our portfolio, which is diverse in size and spans a wide range of industries. TOM Capital can, and does, take a more flexible approach to investments as a result of our platform structure:

We focus on the competitive advantages and growth potential of any given possible acquisition, and will consider smaller acquisitions if the business can be readily “tucked in” to an existing TOM platform;
We can more aggressively pursue the acquisition in distressed or challenging circumstances; and
A strong, entrepreneurial management team can grow – they can lever their skills sets to contribute to existing platforms, or be part of a new platform, for TOM Capital.

Apart from the above, what we look for in potential investments are some or all of the following characteristics:

Free cash flow of at least $2 million per location or management region (or the near term potential to reach this threshold);
A preference for Canadian-based businesses, with an even higher preference for those based in Western Canada;
Strong incumbent management team, most of whom are prepared to continue with and grow the business, or businesses that can be “tucked in” to our current platforms (where we currently have this management); and
The prime focus is on investments that require capital, generally in range from $5 million to $50 million. For even larger transactions, TOM Capital may arrange participation from other investment industry contacts.

Some of TOM’s preferred areas of investment are: real estate development, oil and gas production, oil and gas services, wood & metal manufacturing, and other businesses with developed products and established markets.

In general, TOM Capital has the in-house expertise and capital to allow it to quickly review and commit to transactions on an agile and flexible basis, if required.

TOM Capital will consider virtually any kind of investment structure, provided that it will almost always require equity participation. For those situations where TOM Capital needs to call on some resources that are not in-house, it has relationships with other organizations and individuals that are capable of providing expertise quickly.