Robert M. Clinger III

JNC Shipping Corporation is a multinational shipping firm that operates oil tankers in the North Sea, from Venezuela to the United States, and LNG tankers in the Pacific.  The executive management team is comprised primarily of members of the Cloninger family.  In addition, the Board is controlled by members of the Cloninger family who share the same views on how the Company should be managed. Continue reading →

Robert M. Clinger III

Iris Rental Management Company was founded thirty-five years ago by Tom and Eva Williams to provide long-term rental management services to owners of apartments, condominiums, townhomes, office buildings, retail space, etc.  Since its founding, Iris Rental Management Company has maintained a fairly stable staff as a result of the pleasant working environment created by the Williams family.  Continue reading →

Whitehall Textiles Group was founded in 1960 by Don Whitehall to produce embroidered golf shirts and hats for corporate clients.  The company thrived during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a result of three large corporate clients that each generated over $500,000 in revenues per year for the company.  These three large clients were in the energy industry, the food industry, and the tobacco industry and spent significant sums of money on advertising and promotional products.  The profits generated from these three clients alone enabled the company to pay down its debt and allowed Don to take substantial distributions. Continue reading →

Robert M. Clinger III

 Global Communications Solutions, Inc., a closely held and family controlled communications company, was founded in 1925 by Major Sid White to provide Communications equipment to the shipping industry in the United States.  The current thirty shareholders are Mr. White’s direct descendants or trusts that hold shares for descendants.  The executive management is also comprised mostly of members of the third generation in the White family—the third generation to run the enterprise.  In the early days, Global Communications Solutions was not profitable, incurring net losses for several years and forcing additional capital contributions by the founders, but the Company managed to begin generating stable earnings after winning several contracts from the military during World War II, as a result of Major White’s contacts within the Congress and the Department of Defense.  Since then, the enterprise has matured, with revenues of over $75 million and net income before taxes of $8 million, and now provides a stable income stream, allowing for reinvestment into the Company and distributions to the shareholders.  The current generation of executive management conducts an annual assessment of the Company’s performance and places great emphasis upon the Return on Equity ratio.  Recall that Return on Equity is calculated as follows: Continue reading →

Triumvirate Industries, Inc., an international small aircraft engine manufacturing firm, is in its third generation of Barkley ownership.  Currently, there are forty shareholders in the Company, some of which are trusts set up for the benefit of members of the youngest generation. Continue reading →

John Doe is thirty-eight years old and an employee of a manufacturing firm, RM Corporation, where he has been employed for nearly twenty-years.  Following the announcement of significant redundancies (including John) at RM Corporation, John Doe decided to put his entrepreneurial spirit to the test by buying a small business that would provide him and his wife with a comfortable lifestyle.  Continue reading →

The Canteen is a local franchised restaurant and pub serving quality lunches at reasonable prices at ten area locations in the tri-city area.  The franchise is well-known throughout the region and has a strong customer base, ranging from professionals on the go to retirees and local college students.  The Canteen’s five area locations are organized as individual corporations which are, in turn, owned and operated by Thor Holdings, LLC, a local company that also owns several other franchise restaurants, ice cream shoppes, and gourmet coffee houses.  Continue reading →

Patriot Industries, an established textile manufacturer of embroidered golf shirts and hats, acquired Swamp Fox Industries in 1970.  Swamp Fox Industries was a manufacturer of textile manufacturing equipment but also owned a manufacturer of drill bits and derricks for oil field service companies.  Swamp Fox Industries continued to grow under the ownership of Patriot Industries and contributes roughly $20 million to the Company’s annual revenues of $75 million.  Continue reading →

Closely held and family controlled businesses that excel at the seven factors that characterize successful wealth creating family enterprises, as discussed in Highland Global’s The Seven Deadly Sins of Business Valuation:  Closely Held and Family Controlled Businesses, typically are able to lower the firm’s cost of capital as compared to those firms that have yet to master the seven factors of successful transgenerational wealth creating enterprises. Continue reading →