How Fenway Saw 4x Exit With 1-800-Contacts (Privcap video)

Oct. 2, 2012 - PRLog -- How Fenway Saw Success With 1-800-CONTACTS

How do you make money in a consumer business that many customers view as commoditized? Win on service - a strategy that Fenway Partners’ Timothy Mayhew pursued when investing in direct-to-consumer business 1-800-Contacts. The deal was a huge exit success for Fenway and the company continues to win rave reviews from a growing customer base. How did Fenway do it? As Mayhew describes it, Fenway understood that, in the end, the company was a customer service business—they outsourced manufacturing, enhanced the website and mobile application, partnered with Wal-Mart, and brought high-touch service to the clunky eyeglasses business. 20/20 vision, indeed.

In this program – the second in a four-part Privcap series on private equity success in the consumer sector – Mayhew is quizzed by Michael J. Grossman, Principal at McGladrey, and Joan McCabe of Brynwood Partners about the dynamics of the 1-800-Contacts deal. The first segment in this series is called “Investing in Consumer Success.”

View the full video here - http://www.privcap.com/programs/180-how-fenway-saw-succes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNHBVSNOT_g



Timothy Mayhew
Managing Director
Fenway Partners
Timothy Mayhew joined Fenway Partners in 2003 and leads the firm's practice in the  Consumer sector. Mayhew is active in sourcing deals and overseeing portfolio company operations, finances and strategy.  Prior to joining Fenway Partners, Mr. Mayhew was a founding partner of Palladium Equity Partners. Prior to Palladium, Mayhew was a Principal at Joseph Littlejohn & Levy and worked in the Restructuring Group at Merrill Lynch Investment Banking. Mayhew received a B.A. in American History from Brown University.
As the Northeast leader of the practice that comprises approximately 40 dedicated professionals, Michael provides transaction services, primarily on buy-side transactions. His 13 years of M&A experience includes advising private equity and subordinated funds, as well as assisting strategic buyers with add-on acquisitions.

Michael J. Grossman
Principal, Transaction Advisory Services
McGladrey
Over the past five years, Michael has helped coordinate more than 150 transactions in the middle market, worth over $5 billion, with a particular focus on the consumer products sector as well as business services and software/technology. His services include financial and operational due diligence (both buy- and sell-side), financial projections and cash flow modeling, annual and strategic business planning, profitability enhancements and business process reviews.
Prior to joining the firm, Michael spent five years in the transaction services group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He served on both the buy- and sell-side of transactions for private equity firms, strategic buyers and companies involved in divestitures. Earlier in his career, he worked in the profitability enhancement group (corporate finance) at Sony Pictures Entertainment.
McGladrey’s Transaction Advisory Services practice has represented buyers and sellers on nearly 900 middle-market transactions during the last four years, covering a wide range of industries.

Joan McCabe
Managing Partner
Brynwood Partners
Joan McCabe joined the Brynwood III Advisory Committee in 1997 and upon the formation of Brynwood IV joined the Firm full-time as a Managing Partner. Prior to joining the Firm, McCabe managed her own mergers and acquisitions advisory firm. Previously, she spent 15 years as an investment banker at Kidder, Peabody & Co., Drexel Burnham Lambert Group Inc. and Paine Webber Group Inc.McCabe holds a B.A. in History from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.