Telecommunications Services
Acceris Management and Acquisition, LLC
San Diego, California
Acceris was a public long-distance telephone service provider primarily serving small business customers. Acceris was acquired in 2005, and after greatly streamlining its cost structure, was successfully sold to First Communications, an industry consolidator, in 2007. Gordon Cohen served on the board of managers of Acceris.Central States Tower, LLC
Chicago, Illinois
Central States Tower develops, owns and operates wireless communications towers. William Marraccini serves as Chairman and both he and Jacob Wesner serve on its board of managers.NewTel Holdings, LLC
Minneapolis, Minnesota
NewTel was a highly profitable interational competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) serving residential and small business customers in Australia, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, the United Kingdom as well as the United States. NewTel was sold to Orion Telecommunications Limited, a public company listed on the Australian stock exchange, in September 2004. Merchants Capital was the sole institutional investor in NewTel and Gordon Cohen served on its board of managers.Telebeam Telecommunications Corporation
Queens, New York
Telebeam is the largest independent provider of payphone/outdoor advertising kiosks in New York City. Merchants Capital is the sole institutional investor in Telebeam and Gordon Cohen serves on its board of directors.
Restaurants
ADF Pizza, LLC
Fairfield, New Jersey
ADF Pizza operates Pizza Hut restaurants in the New York metropolitan area. The company, together with affiliates, is the second largest Pizza Hut franchisee in the U.S. Merchants Capital realized its investment in ADF through a successful recapitalization in 2006. Merchants Capital was the sole institutional investor in ADF Pizza and Gordon Cohen served on its board of managers.Encanto Restaurants, LLC
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Encanto is the sole YUM! Brands franchisee serving the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Encanto operates more than 170 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants on the island. Merchants Capital originated this transaction and co-invested alongside Whitney & Company. After growing sales and reducing expenses over a two-year period, Encanto was successfully sold to Harvest Partners in 2006. Gordon Cohen served as an observer on the board of Encanto.Fiesta Hospitality, LLC
Deerfield Beach, Florida
Fiesta operates Taco Bell restaurants serving Broward and Miami-Dade counties in Florida. Merchants Capital realized its investment through a successful recapitalization in 2006. Merchants Capital was the sole institutional investor in Fiesta and Gordon Cohen served on its board of managers.Southern Restaurant Hospitality Group, LLC
Alpharetta, Georgia
Southern Restaurant Hospitality Group owns and operates 20 Burger King restaurants in the northern Atlanta suburbs and in Augusta, Georgia. Gordon Cohen and Jacob Wesner serve on the board of managers of the company.
Other
Executive Air Support, Inc.
Plano, Texas
Executive Air Support, doing business as Atlantic Aviation, owned and operated fixed base operations in general aviation airports serving major business markets. Executive Air Support was sold in July 2004 to Macquarie Infrastructure Company Trust. Gordon Cohen served as an observer on the board of Executive Air Support.
Other Selected Investments Made by the Principals
AAT Communications
St. Louis, Missouri
AAT was the largest privately owned communications site provider in the United States. The Company was sold to SBA Communications in April 2006. William Marraccini founded AAT, was a principal stockholder and served on the board of directors.AAT RSA
Iselin, New Jersey
AAT RSA provided mobile telephony services through its ownership of rural cellular licenses in the Southeast. AAT RSA was sold in 1998 to Triton Communications. William Marraccini founded AAT RSA and served as chairman and chief executive officer.ANC Sports Enterprises, LLC
Purchase, New York
ANC is a full-service provider of marketing services to professional and college sports teams and facilities. ANC is the leading owner/operator of rotational advertising signage at sports events, and is a leading provider and operator of high quality light emitting diode (LED) video screens and fascia. Gordon Cohen is co-founder of ANC and serves on its board of managers.NewPath Networks, LLC
Seattle, Washington
NewPath Networks is a wireless infrastructure company that designs, develops and operates distributed antenna systems (DAS) which enable wireless carriers to provide coverage and capacity in areas where building a conventional tower is impractical. NewPath was co-founded by William Marraccini and both he and Gordon Cohen serve on the board of managers.Metro One
New York, New York
Metro One owned the original non-RBOC cellular telephone license for New York City. Half of the interest was sold in August 1990 to Metromedia Company and the balance was sold in May 1994 to McCaw Cellular Communications Inc. William Marraccini served on its board of directors.