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Companies

Taco Bueno Opens First Franchise Unit In Fayetteville, Arkansas

Taco Bueno opened its very first franchise unit in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The franchise is the result of a 10-month-old partnership between Dallas-based Taco Bueno and Tulsa-based U.S. Beef Corporation. The agreement between U.S. Beef Corporation and Taco Bueno represents the first of three franchise contracts since January of this year. Growing concentrically from its core markets in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas is part of the chain’s national growth strategy. The opening marks a leap forward in the plan to take the Mexican quick-service restaurant into parts of Northern Arkansas, Central Missouri, Kansas, North Carolina, Nebraska, and New Mexico

Palladium acquired TB Corporation, parent of the Taco Bueno restaurant chain in August 2005. Founded in 1967 and based in Dallas, Taco Bueno is an established market leader, distinguished by the high quality and freshness of its food, scope of menu, speed and convenience of its service, and reputation for consumer value.

Prince Mineral Holding Corp.

New York, NY
www.princeminerals.com

Prince Mineral Holding Corp. (“PMHC”), through its operating subsidiaries, is a leading producer of mineral based colorants and additives supplying a wide variety of customers and industries throughout North America and Europe. PMHC is a portfolio company of Palladium Equity Partners II, L.P. and consists of two wholly owned operating subsidiaries, Prince Minerals, Inc. (“PMI”) and Prince Minerals Limited (“PML”). PMI is a leading producer and marketer of specialty mineral products with a particular focus on naturally occurring minerals and pigment applications. Formed through the acquisition of The Prince Manufacturing Company in 2003, and American Minerals, Inc. (“AMI”) in 2005, PMI is the North American subsidiary of PMHC. PMHC also owns a European subsidiary, Prince Minerals Limited, which was formed through the acquisition of Tarmac Minerals and Materials in April 2006. Headquartered in New York City, PMHC is dedicated to building a world-class specialty minerals producer and marketer via complementary acquisitions and internal growth.

Taco Bueno

Dallas, TX
www.tacobueno.com

Taco Bueno is a premium quality, quick service restaurant chain offering fast casual quality Mexican cuisine at fast food price and convenience. Founded in 1967 and based in Dallas, Taco Bueno is an established market leader, distinguished by the high quality and freshness of its food, scope of menu, speed and convenience of its service, and reputation for consumer value. With 169 restaurants in seven states — Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska and North Carolina — operations are currently clustered in Taco Bueno's primary markets of Dallas/Ft. Worth, Abilene, Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Wise Foods, Inc.

Atlanta, GA
www.wisesnacks.com

Wise Foods, Inc., is one of the premier regional salty snack companies in the United States. Founded in 1921, the company is one of the largest manufacturers of potato chips and salty snacks, with the number two or three market position in 21 eastern states from Florida to Maine. The company manufactures and sells a full line of salty snack products under some of the most recognizable brand names in the salty snack food industry, including WISE® and CHEEZ DOODLES®.

ATC Panels

Moncure, NC
www.atcpanels.com

ATC Panels is a leading producer of particleboard, low density fiberboard, medium density fiberboard, high density fiberboard, and thermally fused melamine panels with over 600 employees throughout North America. ATC was founded in May 2004 by a partnership of proven industry leaders. Until 2002, the partners controlled the Chilean company MASISA (NYSE: MYS), the largest wood panel manufacturer in Latin America. Fueled by a 20-year track record of success, the partners formed ATC Panels to bring a high level of quality, innovation and service to the North American market. With the acquisition of five plants over the last two years, ATC Panels has aggressively positioned itself to be an industry leader modernizing mills and integrating them with value added operations.

PROMÉRICA Bank

Los Angeles, CA
www.promericabank.com

PROMÉRICA Bank is a full-service commercial bank, dedicated to building family wealth by empowering entrepreneurs with the requisite financial services and capital infusion for the success of their small to mid-size business, including real estate and construction loans, lines of credit, term loans and SBA loans, as well as a full complement of deposit products and business services. To better serve Latino clients, the Bank provides bicultural service, not just bilingual service, financial education and empowerment for both clients and future clients. It is Latina-led and was the first primarily Latino-owned commercial bank to form in California in more than 30 years. The headquarters and first location, at 888 S. Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles, began operations in November 2006.

Sahale Snacks

Seattle, WA
www.sahalesnacks.com

Sahale Snacks was founded in 2003 by Josh Schroeter and Edmond Sanctis after climbing Mt. Rainier and enduring days of uninspiring trail mix and energy bars. The two set out to create a natural and healthy snack that tasted like great food. The Company follows a simple product philosophy: start with all-natural ingredients, add a dash of “culinary magic” and produce great tasting healthy snacks. Sahale Snacks is dedicated to helping people “Snack Better™.”

Winner of Health Magazine’s “Best of Food” award in the snack category in 2006, Sahale Snacks produces unique products that intersect important consumer trends in natural and gourmet foods. The Sahale Snacks branded line of six nut blends combines nuts and fruit with ingredients inspired by regional cuisines, such as Moroccan Harissa and Chipotle. This product line captured the top four positions in the all-natural trail mix category among 134 SKUs within two years of launch, according to SPINS, a leading provider of information on the natural products industry.

Todobebé

Miami, FL
www.todobebe.com

Todobebé, Inc., the family brand dedicated to families who are planning, expecting and raising babies, is a multimedia company that includes properties such as: Todobebé TV, the only network TV show on child rearing, airing weekly nationwide on the Telemundo Network in the U.S. and via Televisa Networks in Mexico; Todobebe.com, the leading Internet destination for Spanish-speaking families expecting and raising babies since 1999; Todobebé radio capsules syndicated via ABC Radio Networks and Todobebé radio shows distributed in South and Central America; The Todobebé Book, the parenting guide for babies 0-12 months published by Harper Collins-Rayo in English and Spanish; Todobebé Parenting Tips, airing hourly in over 550 Wal-Mart stores nationwide in the U.S. via the Premier Retail Network, and in hospitals nationwide in Mexico via the closed circuit Hospital TV network Canal Angeles.

Headquartered in Miami and known for its award-winning, proprietary content, Todobebé provides valuable information to families raising babies through television, radio, publications, digital media and grassroots events. The most recent addition to the company’s properties include Todobebé parenting DVDs and children’s music in Spanish, through a distribution partnership with NBC Universal Television Group.

Regional Management Corp.

Greenville, SC
www.rmcorp.biz

Regional Management Corp. (“RMC”) is a consumer finance company which offers installment loans and insurance products through a footprint of 129 office branches in South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Alabama. The Company’s credit products are offered to consumers who have limited access to traditional sources of credit to finance auto purchases or repairs, pay medical bills, and fill other short-term credit needs. RMC is expanding its offices within the current states of operation, opening new offices in other contiguous states and actively acquiring other locations or companies. The Company is led by an experienced management team and prides itself on excellent service, competitive products and disciplined underwriting standards. RMC also provides consumer financing on behalf of auto dealers, and selectively purchases other consumer debt such as auto and furniture loans from other regional retailing or lending companies.

Starfire Systems, Inc.

Malta, NY
www.starfiresystems.com

Starfire Systems, Inc. is the leading global developer and manufacturer of break-through nanostructured ceramic materials and finished products. Starfire’s patented pre-ceramic polymer technology simplifies the production of nanostructured silicon carbide (SiC) fiber-reinforced composites, monoliths, and coatings. For the first time, the design and cost advantages long associated with polymer-based plastics are combined with the superior performance properties of leading edge ceramics. This translates into new materials options that are both light-weight and tough while critical performance characteristics for hardness and thermal stability are maintained. Starfire is pioneering nanostructured ceramics in key markets for transportation, aerospace, electronics, and others. Their clients are forward thinking companies who recognize that new materials solutions are vital to enhance the capabilities of their products and ensure the future success of their companies.

Castro Cheese Company, Inc.

Houston, TX
www.castrocheese.com

Castro Cheese Company is a leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of queso fresco and other varieties of Hispanic cheeses and creams. Castro’s products are marketed under the “La Vaquita” brand in Texas and other southwestern states and are known for their quality, authenticity and freshness. Company Founder Maria Castro emigrated to Houston from the state of San Luis Potosí, México in 1971, and soon found high demand among friends and neighbors for her authentic Queso Fresco cheese. She converted her family’s garage into a mini-factory, but soon expanded into larger facilities in Houston and incorporated Castro Cheese Company in 1977. Today, the Company is the second largest Hispanic cheese company in the U.S. operating state-of-the art manufacturing facilities with a highly trained staff dedicated both to the quality of their “La Vaquita” brand products and to the family spirit that exists throughout the Company.

DailyMe, Inc.

Hollywood, FL
www.dailyme.com

DailyMe is a news aggregator, content platform and social community that allows users to personalize, aggregate, share and interact with the news, blogs, columns and stories of interest to them. Covering everything from world news to wedding planning, DailyMe draws its stories from thousands of sources, including licensed content, syndicated content and user-generated content. DailyMe users can choose the types of stories they want and also choose between online, email and print delivery. By combining the best practices of online newspapers, news portals and traditional print media, DailyMe is changing the way news and information is read and delivered.

Carpio Solutions Inc.

Cary, NC
www.carpio.com

Carpio Solutions Inc. is a Pan-American software and services company, operating in the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Panama. Carpio offers consulting services and development of solutions aimed at intelligence and maturity of corporate financial management. The main solution of the company, GesFin Planning, specializes in the financial planning and monitoring of corporate performance. It provides managers with advanced business analysis and boasts a wide predictive capability through the creation of scenarios and simulations. It manages sales forecast, cash management, expenses, budgets, investment analysis, in addition to monitoring and balancing of performance indicators.

Remesas Quisqueyana, Inc. (“RQI”)

New York, NY
www.quisqueyana.com

RQI is a leading provider of electronic fund transfer services from a base of approximately 600 agents and 27 company-owned branch stores, with capabilities of sending money to 48 countries through 18,000 payout locations. Headquartered in New York City, the Company currently operates in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, Illinois, Texas, Ohio, Virginia, Georgia, Alaska, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Arkansas, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada. In addition to the core remittance service via PC terminal, phone or online, the Company offers ancillary products, including discount and prepaid telecom cards, travel services, tax preparation services and package delivery services.

American Gilsonite Company

Palo Alto, CA
www.americangilsonite.com

American Gilsonite Company (“AGC”) operates as an industrial minerals company and is the world’s primary miner and processor of uintaite, a variety of asphaltite, a specialty hydrocarbon which the Company markets to industrial customers under its registered trademark name “Gilsonite®”. Gilsonite is a glossy, black, solid naturally occurring hydrocarbon similar in appearance to coal or hard asphalt and is believed to be found in commercial quantities only in the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah. Because of its unique chemical and physical properties, Gilsonite is used in more than 160 products, primarily in dark-colored printing inks and paints, oil well drilling muds and cements, asphalt modifiers, foundry sands additives and a wide variety of chemical products. The Company sells its products to customers in four primary markets: (i) oil and gas, (ii) inks and paints, (iii) foundry and (iv) asphalt.

Mission Community Bank

San Luis Obispo, CA
www.missioncommunitybank.com

Mission Community Bank is a locally owned and operated community bank with offices in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and a Business Banking Center in San Luis Obispo. The bank has received several awards for its success in meeting community needs in small business lending and development banking services, has earned an outstanding rating for its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) activities, and is an SBA Preferred Lender.

Herald National Bank

New York, NY
www.heraldnb.com

Led by an experienced team of metropolitan New York banking executives, Herald National Bank, member FDIC, is a relationship-based banking institution dedicated to serving the commercial and private banking needs of small to mid-size businesses and high net worth individuals in the New York metropolitan area. Herald National Bank began operations after setting a new capital record ($62 million) for an independent start-up bank in New York State.

Raymond A. Nielsen serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Nielsen was the lead independent director at North Fork Bancorporation and the former President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Reliance Bancorp.

Cannella Response Television

Burlington, WI
www.drtv.com

Cannella Response Television (www.drtv.com), formed in 1985, specializes in television direct response media placement on national cable networks and broadcast stations, with in-depth results analysis on its proprietary Media Star™ software. The company places media for many of the industry’s biggest hits and often supplements media to other agencies. Cannella is unique in that it goes beyond the typical media placement services by adding value through a broad range of consulting services — all at no additional fee to its clients. Cannella works with clients as a project manager to guide them through the infomercial process, lending expertise to such areas as product assessment, script analysis, rough-cut evaluation, telemarketing scripting and fulfillment recommendations. Cannella Response Television is based in Burlington, Wisconsin with regional offices in Los Angeles and New York.

Celeritas Management, Inc.

Richmond, VA
www.celeritasmgmt.com

Celeritas Management provides financial and operational resources to sports, entertainment and lifestyle businesses to produce growth and profitability. The Company was founded with the mission to create value for each investment entity and its capital funding partner. Driving the Celeritas operating approach is strategic integration of a variety of disciplines for investment and acquisition, and portfolio management. The Company targets unique, scalable and defendable niches in the sports, entertainment and lifestyle industries that ignite the passions of consumers — and, especially, the Hispanic demographic. Through capital investment, corporate resources, strategic input and operational collaboration, Celeritas helps position companies for growth and success.

Capital Contractors, Inc.

www.capitalcontractors.com

Capital Contractors, Inc. and its affiliates (“CCI”), is one of the largest privately held providers of janitorial and facilities maintenance services in North America. With offices throughout the U.S. and Canada, CCI maintains thousands of facilities and has been successfully serving customers for more than 75 years.

CCI offers a comprehensive range of cleaning and maintenance solutions to thousands of facilities throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. With the resources of a large firm and the benefits of a local office network from coast to coast, the Company’s customers range from Fortune 500 companies with hundreds of locations throughout the country to local single-location start-ups. Founded and privately held since 1932, CCI specializes in simplifying the lives of its customers with cost-effective and complete cleaning and maintenance solutions, including recently expanded facility maintenance capabilities.

Active Investments

ATC Panels Taco Bueno Restaurants Starfire Systems, Inc. Todobebé, Inc. Wise Foods, Inc. Prince Mineral Holding Corp. Celeritas Management, Inc. PROMÉRICA Bank Sahale Snacks Regional Management Corp. Castro Cheese Company, Inc. DailyMe, Inc. Carpio Solutions Inc. Mission Community Bank Remesas Quisqueyana, Inc. American Gilsonite Company Herald National Bank Cannella Response Television Capital Contractors