INTRODUCTION
Lake Capital partners with strong executive teams capable of managing larger, growth-oriented business service companies. We currently manage more than $1.3 billion in equity commitments and typically commit $50-75 million of equity to each of our initiatives focused on building leading business services enterprises through organic and acquisition-enhanced growth.
FOCUS ON MARKETING SERVICES
Lake Capital has a passion for and a long track record of investing in
marketing communications and media. Lake Capital has a distinct point
of view on marketing:
- In the future, most marketing will be data-driven and technology enabled.
- Focus must be on engaging consumers in order to change their behavior – to create a transaction. In other words, branding and selling are simultaneous activities.
- Every transaction must create value for the individual as well as for the brand.
- Focus must be on engaging consumers in order to change their behavior – to create a transaction. In other words, branding and selling are simultaneous activities.
- Consumer engagement (and resultantly, transactions) will increasingly take place across multiple channels.
- Strategy = execution. If you can think it, you must be able to make it.
- Scale is the new killer app. Hybrid product-service models will drive scale.
Lake Capital seeks to invest in a complementary collection of transaction-oriented marketing firms designed to deliver marketing solutions that are better, faster and lower cost.
EXPERIENCE
Chairman,
Principal and Co-Founder
 Terry Graunke brings more than 25 years of experience in starting, building, operating, and investing in companies, including evaluating and executing acquisitions, mergers, and exits. Prior to forming Lake Capital, Terry was the founder and chief executive of both publicly-traded and private companies. As an investor, his approach joins operational know-how with financial expertise and resources, resulting in a unique ability to partner with management teams to build successful enterprises that create significant shareholder value.
In 1998, Terry and Paul Yovovich founded Lake Capital. From 1998 until today, Lake has invested in a variety of service enterprises with capital commitments in excess of $1.7 billion. They are currently investing Lake Capital Fund II which is an $800 million fund.
From 1994 to 1998, Terry successfully invested more than $100 million of his own and investors' capital in businesses focused on information technology training, interactive development, and marketing services. From 1992 to 1994, Terry was a partner in the Hawthorne Group, a Pittsburgh-based investment firm, where he focused on both investments in and exits of a portfolio consisting primarily of media companies, both traditional and new media. Prior to his involvement with Hawthorne, Terry spent more than ten years as an operating executive leading companies in the marketing communications industry.
Terry serves on the boards of Lake Capital's investments along with a variety of community activities.
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 Marc joined Lake Capital in 2008. Prior to joining Lake, Marc was a director of corporate strategy and development at Leo Burnett Worldwide, comprised of the Leo Burnett brand agency and Arc Worldwide, an integrated marketing-services company. Marc also served as global president of Arc.
As a member of LBW’s Global Management Council, Marc helped define and merchandise LBW’s vision, strategy and go-to-market business model. He drove the company’s innovations agenda, leveraging his expertise in advertising, marketing services and emerging technologies. Marc was additionally responsible for the company’s digital investments, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic alliances.
His career highlights are many. With an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Marc served from 1992 to 1996 as Kellogg’s associate dean and also created and directed the External Relations department. He went on to co-found Digital Knowledge Assets, an Internet start-up that created a Web-based knowledge-management platform. Marc defined the end-state for the company and prepared it for a private equity sale.
From 2001-2003, he was executive vice president and director of corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions at BCOM3 Group, Inc. He was instrumental in the sale of BCOM3 to Publicis Groupe, creating the world’s fourth-largest communications company and second-largest media counsel and buying company.
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CURRENT INVESTMENTS
SolutionSet (fka Haggin Marketing) is a cross-channel direct
marketing agency whose primary goal is to drive transactions
for its clients. │www.solutionset.com
Trailer Park is a leading, international provider of entertainment and brand marketing creative services. Its produces trailers, TV spots, online digital content and print advertising for movies, TV productions, corporate brands and home entertainment products.│www.trailerpark.com
MediaWhiz is a diversified provider of online performance-based marketing services and has relationships with more than 3,000 advertisers in a range of industries, including education, financial services, healthcare, and market research. │ www.mediawhiz.com
Office Media Network, with Dow Jones, is the creator of The Wall Street Journal Office Network, which delivers real-time news and landlord-tenant messages through high-definition, digital screens located in office buildings across the U.S. │ www.officemedia.com
EXPANSION OPPORTUNITIES (~$10mm TTM EBITDA)
Integrated Production
- Commercial
- Print
- Digital
- Mobile
Retail/Shopper Marketing
- Consumer insights/behavior strategy
- In-store creative development
- Package design
- In-store promotion
- Merchandising strategy and execution
Digitally-Enabled Marketing Services
- Interactive and digital marketing
- SEO/SEM and online media strategy and measurement; performance marketing
- Social media strategy, execution and measurement
- Mobile marketing (content development, serving, analytics)
Leveraged Services
- Product/Service hybrids which drive recurring revenue streams (driven by data integration and technology scale)
- DSP/networks
- Automated media management
LAKE CAPITAL CONTACTS
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