About Us: investment success

CEO Commentaries

"I’m proud to be working closely with George and Rick. They know how to work with operating executives and Rick always gave me the rope to run the company as I saw fit. But when I needed him, as when we needed access to capital, Wall Street, or to do an acquisition, Rick was always there for us. The deal was a home run on every level."

Dan Gillis, former CEO, SAGA Systems

"I have invested in or managed as Chief Executive Officer over a dozen growth companies; First Franklin Financial, Fox Sports Grill, MindBox, Ownit Mortgage Solutions, Sysdome, Lynx Golf, Diversified Capital, DualStar Entertainment LLC to name a few. That experience has involved spending a lot of time partnering with private equity firms. So I realized early in our deal that George McCabe is one of the most terrific partners in the buyout world.

His well-tuned doses of energy, his access to capital, contacts and his tremendous business acumen have proved to be a valued motivator to my management team. George has an ability to deliver the right combination of sunshine balanced by reality and that approach provided a unique and valued perspective.

Lastly, at Sysdome, he single-handedly negotiated an exit for us that came in at a multiple to cash flow that still amazes me!! If you are an entrepreneurial executive like me and you need access to capital, you would be well served to work with George and his team at Pine Creek. I absolutely hope to do so again."

William D. Dallas, Chairman & CEO, Dallas Capital, Ownit Mortgage Solutions, Fox Sports Grill, MindBox LLC

"My sales VP likes to tell the story that at our industry conference a few years back, George McCabe had set up more meetings with decision makers a month before the conference than our entire sales team. His ability to roll up his sleeves and go to work on our behalf not only served as a motivator for the sales team to try and top him (which they did) but it delivered real results in terms of new customers. We were able to increase cash flow by a multiple of 10 during the years after I took over, and we sold our fraud screening and data authentication business to Insurance Services Organization, a $ 600 M revenue private company, in an all cash deal during 2005. George knew our market almost as well as I did and having access to his thoughts and relationships was a real asset to me in driving success at our company."

Kevin Coop, President, Interthinx, a division of Insurance Services Organization, Inc.

"Probably one of the smartest things I did when taking my Florida-based dealer floor plan finance company on a massive acquisition campaign designed to capture distribution, was to partner with someone that had the experience to help me avoid the steel-jaw traps along the way. That person was George McCabe. While I had run several successful companies in the past, I had not acquired any and certainly buying four of them in two years was not without its challenges. Throughout that process, George and our other board members provided crucial knowledge derived from their past experiences in terms of valuation and integration.

The result is that we increased our earnings by over 700%, had 70% market share in the Canadian auto auction market and sold our company to a public buyer, Adesa, Inc.(NYSE: KAR) in an all cash deal only 2 years after our first acquisition. Life here on the beach in the Virgin Islands has been great ever since!"

Steve Simon, CEO, Auction Finance Group/Canadian Auto Auction Group, Miami, Fl / Toronto, ON

"Several years ago I recognized the market opportunity of dramatically expanding the presence of our business and its product set in the banking industry. But we had to move quickly. George McCabe and our team of private equity investors were willing to invest the time required to understand our vision, validate our assumptions and nail down a plan which we began implementing even before the closing. After the smoke had cleared from the closing table, George was right there with us as we executed the plan and supportive of our need to make mid-course corrections. The result is that four years later our efforts were measured by an 800% improvement in cash flow causing us to be a desirable acquisition for Equifax (NYSE:EFX) in an all cash deal delivering an attractive cash-on-cash multiple to investors and management. Not only was George a great partner throughout that process, he was great company on many mornings in my duck blind!"

Steve Uffman, CEO, Appro Systems, a division of Equifax, Inc., Baton Rouge, LA