Ciesse Piumini

Ciesse is the oldest manufacturer of down outwear in Italy and is renowned worldwide for its blend of traditional Tuscan craftsmanship with natural goose down alongside the innovative use of the latest technological materials and sophisticated and elegant design for the production of premier ski and outdoor fashionwear. Ciesse has been the outfitter of choice for leading European expeditions to the Himalayas and the Antarctic as well as for the Paris-Dakar and Iceland rallies. GEM initiated discussions with Fila, the original parent of Ciesse, for an acquisition given the non-core nature of the business within the overall troubled Fila portfolio. GEM and a management team that GEM has worked with over the years in evaluating and pursuing opportunities in the fashion industry executed on a LBO. GEM has been focused in improving production efficiencies of the business, expanding distribution channels, improving the working capital management of the business, and rationalizing the costly captive retail base of the business in a capital structure turnaround investment. GEM is currently evaluating various exit opportunities.

Challenger Limited

Incorporated in the Isle of Man, with assets in Libya and a regional office in Cairo, Egypt, Challenger is an international provider of contract oil and gas land drilling and work over services with over 15 years experience servicing both major and independent oil and gas companies in the African continent and expanding into the Middle East. Challenger operates a fleet of 22 onshore drilling rigs consisting of 6 drilling rigs and 16 work over / water well rigs. The company also provides mobile heavy equipment services and tubing and patching as ancillary services. In addition to being ISO 9002 certified, the Company also has a good safety record. Though the Company’s management centre is in Egypt, its primary business is in Libya where the recent political reforms and privatization of the national oilfields has led to a dramatic increase in the development and new drilling in existing fields as well as the aggressive pursuit of new onshore sites by the major global oil companies. Today, Challenger is one of the very few regionally owned oil drilling companies, with a strong client base in Libya, including nearly all state-owned oil companies as well as international players such as Agip/Eni, Total and Verenex Energy. Furthermore, the dynamics of light sweet crude oil reserves in Libya that face low “under sand” extraction costs have led to immense top line and margin growth for the company. The company also has plans to expand in the Middle East region, where the Company has a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia which is pre-qualified with Saudi Aramco. The Company was identified by GEM via its delving into opportunities among small and mid-cap international oil and gas services players, particularly those in parts of the world generally thought to be too risky or out of favor. The investment for a 40% interest in Challenger, in supporting incremental working capital and rig capital investment for the company, was undertaken through GEM’s joint venture fund for the MENA region with the Venture Capital Bank of Bahrain, the MENA Small and Medium Enterprises Fund.

Grupo Carsa

In 2005 GEM acquired a significant stake in Grupo Carsa, the leading Peruvian white goods retailer, by purchasing debt at a substantial discount from its creditors and suppliers. We then partnered with the leading Ecuadoran white goods retailer, Artefacta, to successfully bring Grupo Carsa out of "Indecopi" (e.g., Peruvian Chapter 11 proceedings) under a new management team. GEM exited this investment in 2006.

House of Development (HOD)

HOD is a Jeddah, Saudi Arabia based technology company focused on the rollout of a proprietary software architecture that allows for the maintenance of encryption and authentication protocols between digital and hard copy documents through the document lifecycle regardless of transfer of medium. The company’s core software products have been deployed for several government agencies in Saudi Arabia and are being implemented in some other markets in the GCC, in addition to the inception of sales efforts in the US alongside complementary strategic market participants. The investment for a controlling interest in HOD is being undertaken through GEM’s joint venture fund for the MENA region with the Venture Capital Bank of Bahrain, the MENA Small and Medium Enterprises Fund. GEM, through board relationships and prior experience in the US technology security space, recruited the company’s current COO.