Marwit Managing Partner Matthew Witte Honored as "2009 Director of the Year for Early Stage Companies"
Newport Beach, CA - March 30, 2009 - Marwit Capital Partners II, L.P. ("Marwit"), a lower middle market private equity firm, is pleased to announce that Matthew Witte, one of it's founding partners, was recently honored as "2009 Director of the Year for Early Stage Companies" at the 14th annual Forum for Corporate Directors event held at the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point, CA (www.fcdoc.org).
"I'm very honored to be recognized along with this group of senior executives who have distinguished themselves as directors at several of the most successful and highly regarded companies in Southern California," said Mr. Witte. When asked about the award, Mr. Witte attributed his board room success over the past 15 years to a willingness to continually ask of management the "challenging questions", experience in managing a wide variety of businesses through good and bad cycles, and a rigorous commitment to transparency and risk management.
The Forum for Corporate Directors ("FCD") is a leading southern California organization that promotes excellence in corporate governance and boardroom leadership. The FCD annual awards program was created in 1995 to honor directors of both publicly-traded and privately held corporations and to recognize outstanding contributions to corporate governance. Mr. Witte was nominated for the 2009 Director of the Year for Early Stage Companies by members of the FCD team who describe him as an active board member that consistently demonstrates the highest level of transparency, independence, leadership and accountability on behalf of shareholders. FCD honored five 2009 Directors of the Year for five individual categories including Directors of Pacific Life, Union Bank, Thoratec, Emulex Corporation, Mylan Labs, and Alliance Imaging.
Mr. Witte's current Board of Director commitments include Solis Women's Health, Inc., Promax Nutrition Corporation, AMI Holdings Corporation (Arc Machines, Inc.), Seed Acquisition Corporation, Fire Grill, LLC, and STEC, Inc. (Nasdaq: STEC).
Since joining Marwit Capital 16 years ago, Mr. Witte has initiated, closed and managed buyout and growth investments in more than 35 portfolio companies in a diverse range of industries. Prior to joining Marwit in 1994, Mr. Witte had a very successful career in commercial real estate as a General Partner with The Related Companies and Grosvenor International. Mr. Witte is a graduate of Cornell University where he is also a member of the University Council and the Real Estate Council.
About Marwit Capital
Marwit (www.marwit.com) is one of the oldest and most experienced private equity firms in the Western U.S. Founded in 1962 and based in Southern California since 1977, Marwit invests in lower middle market businesses that are leaders in niche markets. Employing a collaborative operational focus, Marwit targets investments headquartered in the Western U.S. with revenues of $20-200 million, EBITDA of $3-15 million, and enterprise value up to $100 million, at the time of acquisition. Marwit partners with experienced CEOs and management teams to complete buyouts and provide growth capital for expansion investments. Marwit generally invests $10-30 million of equity capital per platform investment, in one or a series of investments. Marwit's current fund, MCP II, is $183.7 million of committed capital and includes a portfolio of 10 platform companies.
Media Contacts:
Linda Chaffin
Marwit Capital
949-861-3636
Lchaffin@Marwit.com