Behind Skyview Capital’s carve-out expertise is Founder and Chairman, Alex Soltani, and a team of more than 20 professionals in operations, business development and deal execution.

Jan 10, 2019

By California Business Journal Staff.


What is a carve-out? Well, it’s an intriguing and innovative option for companies investigating strategies for non-core, potentially underperforming or unprofitable subsidiaries. Only a handful of companies specialize in this space. One of them is Skyview Capital, a Century City, Calif.-based investment firm.


Behind the company’s carve-out expertise is Founder and Chairman, Alex Soltani, and a team of more than 20 professionals in operations, business development and deal execution. Soltani formed Skyview Capital following his tenure at Los Angeles-based private Platinum Equity, a multi-billion dollar private-equity firm specializing in corporate divestitures, public-to-private transactions and private sales. Soltani previously headed up All Digital Communications, a nationwide B2B wireless telecommunications provider where he forged alliances with several of the largest national wireless carriers.


With its unique carve-out strategy, Skyview Capital closes an average of 3-4 transactions per year. The firm has completed nearly 30 transactions in technology, telecommunications, business services and niche manufacturing sectors since its inception in 2005.


“When large companies consider options for non-core, potentially underperforming subsidiaries, the best solution could very well be the sale of that business, otherwise known as a corporate carve-out,” Soltani says. “Non-core, potentially unprofitable subsidiaries can distract from the core business; it often is an epiphany for CEOs when they discover firms such as Skyview that want to acquire these operations.

Skyview sources opportunities through direct ongoing communication with senior executives at Fortune-1000 companies and smaller enterprises. At the same time, Skyview receives consistent inbound leads from investment banks, accountants and lawyers. Trade shows and conventions are another resource for discovering ‘carve-out’ opportunities.


Examples of recent Skyview Capital carve-out deals include Continuum Global Solutions, a global customer contact center business acquired from Conduent, Incorporated; SchoolKidz, a nationwide, award-winning school and emergency kit company acquired from Staples, Inc.; and Digital Fuel, an IT business management software business acquired from VMware, Inc.


“Acquiring carved-out business units can be more challenging and nuanced than buying existing standalone businesses,” Soltani says. “Buyers that are not carve-out specialists oftentimes don’t possess the necessary infrastructure to operate the new stand-alone business and will need to rely on the corporate parent for legal, human resources, finance/accounting and other services. It is rare that private equity buyers have the knowledge and experience base to understand the potential pitfalls associated with the many challenges and nuances inherent in operating a newly carved-out business.”


Since Skyview Capital’s focus is carve-outs, the company is able to execute these transactions in ways that result in a win for all parties involved – the parent company, the subsidiary’s employees and investors. “Our parent company is better positioned to focus on its core business and potentially avoids the negative public relations impact of shutting down a business,” Soltani says. “The subsidiary’s employees will receive the resources and attention necessary to optimize the business and the HR department is spared the time and energy associated with employee terminations. Shareholders are supportive of the divestiture because it frees the management team to focus on delivering value to the core business and potentially removes a lower margin, lower growth, potentially money-losing business from the portfolio.”


The stages involved in a Skyview Capital carve-out include identifying the deal opportunity, conducting due diligence on the business, structuring the transaction, finalizing deal documentation as well as the Transitional Services Agreement (TSA), and closing the transaction.


Skyview then “stands up” the business while building out the corporate back-office operations. As a private-equity buyer that has focused on acquiring non-core businesses for 15 years, Skyview is able to structure carve-outs customized to meet the specific business objectives of parent companies. “Companies engaging with Skyview Capital on carve-out transactions quickly come to recognize the substantial advantages inherent in working with the Century City firm,” Soltani says.


“We bring leadership and management in all areas of operations to support the full back office functionality required to operate a stand-alone business. Our operational teams help stabilize new carve-outs, work in tandem with company executives to ensure a smooth transition, and then develop as well as execute a strategic plan.”

22 Mar, 2022
BETHESDA, Md., March 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Effective immediately, Fidelis Cybersecurity, a portfolio company of Skyview Capital, has appointed Cameron Pforr as President, replacing CEO Anup Gosh to lead Fidelis during a period of unprecedented and transformational growth.  Cameron, having formerly served successfully as Fidelis CFO for the past two years, has extensive experience in scaling SaaS platform companies and cybersecurity organizations. He has led several tech luminaries such as Whiptail and its successful exit to Cisco and Permabit which was ultimately acquired by Red Hat. In addition to promoting Cameron, Fidelis also recently hired Eric Moseman as Chief Revenue Officer in January 2022. Eric has held senior executive sales and revenue growth roles at several SaaS companies such as Workday, Central Eyes, Attain and First Advantage. Cameron and Eric look forward to continuing their work at the company to exponentially scale Fidelis within the robust XDR space. Fidelis Cybersecurity is the industry innovator in Active eXtended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions trusted by Fortune 100 firms and government organizations worldwide. Most recently, Fidelis announced 34 new accounts and over $30 million in sales in its 2nd half fiscal year-end, fueled by Fidelis Elevate®, its Active XDR platform. The Fidelis footprint continues to show impressive growth across US Commercial, US Military Services, Federal Agencies, and Eastern Europe. In his newly appointed role, Cameron will report to the Fidelis board of directors. "I want to congratulate Cameron in his new role and am excited for the next phase of growth for Fidelis. Fidelis has been at the forefront of technology innovation and will continue to defend enterprises and our client networks vigorously. We are building a company to address the ever-evolving needs and challenging environment of our customers globally," said Alex Soltani, Chairman and CEO of Skyview Capital. "Cameron's impressive track record, depth of operational experience and excitement about accelerating meaningful growth of the business makes him an ideal leader for Fidelis. Finally, I would like to personally thank Anup for his contributions during his tenure as CEO of Fidelis." Cameron Pforr stated "I would like to thank Alex, the Fidelis board, our employees and most importantly our clients for having the faith in me to lead Fidelis through its next phase of growth. We are looking forward to Q1 being the strongest quarter in the company's history and continuing that momentum throughout the remainder of 2022 and beyond." About Fidelis Cybersecurity, Inc. Fidelis Cybersecurity, Inc. is widely recognized as the industry innovator in Active XDR and proactive cyber defense solutions, safeguards modern IT environments with unparalleled detection, deception, response, cloud security, and compliance capabilities. We offer full visibility across hybrid environments via deep, dynamic asset discovery, multi-faceted context, and risk assessment. These features help minimize attackable surface areas, automate exposure prevention, threat detection, and incident response, and provide the context, accuracy, speed, and portability security professionals need to find and neutralize adversaries earlier in the attack lifecycle. Fidelis is dedicated to helping clients become stronger and more secure. Fidelis is trusted by many top commercial, enterprise, and government agencies worldwide. For more information, please visit www.fidelissecurity.com . Fidelis Cybersecurity is a portfolio company of Skyview Capital . About Skyview Capital, LLC Skyview Capital is a global private investment firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California, which specializes in the acquisition and management of mission critical enterprises in the areas of technology, telecommunications, business services and manufacturing. For more information, please visit www.skyviewcapital.com . Media Contact: Skyview Capital LLC Jeff White Managing Director, Business Development jwhite@skyviewcapital.com 310-273-6000 SOURCE Fidelis Cybersecurity, Inc.
17 Mar, 2022
MeliBio is turning the 9,000-year-old method of honey production on its head, taking out the bee and injecting precision fermentation and plant science. Darko Mandich, a former bee-honey industry executive, and Aaron Schaller, a scientist and amateur chef, started the San Francisco-based company in 2020 with the goal of bringing sustainability to the $10 billion global honey market, which Mandich described as “one of the most unsustainable agricultural sectors with broken supply chain and quality issues.” Mandich explained that his epiphany came while reading a Wired article that reported on how keeping honey bees in bee hives was actually killing the 20,000 wild and native bee species due to the loss of a diversity in the bee population. “We want to change the food industry in a way that we make food sustainable, nutritious and deliver it at no cost to our dearest animals, in our case, the bees,” he told TechCrunch. There are some companies already working in the bee space, like Beewise, which is doing automated beehives using precision robotics, and BeeHero , which is tracking the health of bees. BeeHero’s precision pollination platform wings its way to $19M in new funding Israeli company Bee-io is also working on a bee-free honey using patent-pending bio processes. However, Mandich touts MeliBio as being the first company to make real honey without bees. The product has been tested in four restaurants in New York with a successful outcome. MeliBio came up with two ways to make the honey without bees: the first is using plant science to understand how bees access the plants, and what they get from them in order to make the honey. Second, how to improve upon the molecular composition to scale and make the product. That is where precision fermentation comes in — by identifying the organisms that are good in this application so that it can be used widely, meaning in different ways from drizzling on food to baking with it. The company has now raised $5.7 million in seed funding to help it expand into foodservice and business-to-business applications. In fact, MeliBio is already collaborating with 30 companies that have signed letters of intent to do validation studies, Mandich said. Astanor Ventures led the round and was joined by Skyview Capital, XRC Labs, Collaborative Fund, Midnight Venture Partners, Alumni Ventures and Big Idea Ventures. MeliBio team, from left, Mattie Ellis, Aaron Schaller, Darko Mandich and Benjamin Mason. Image Credits: MeliBio “We are excited about MeliBio’s approach in building a next generation food technology that connects plant science and precision fermentation,” said Christina Ulardic, partner at Astanor Ventures, via email. “Darko and Aaron are passionate about taking pressure off the commercial honey bee supply chain and consequently improving pollinator diversity. We are quite impressed by their first product.” The new funding will be deployed into further R&D and scale-up of its microbial fermentation process and into the product’s official launch in April. Mandich also wants to increase the number of full-time employees from four to 10 by the end of the year, which is in addition to 14 contractors. Though the company is pre-revenue, he believes that will change once the product comes out and MeliBio can focus on fulfilling the letters of intent from multibillion-dollar food companies and restaurants eager to work with them. Next, Mandich plans to look into the $500 billion ingredients market and how to leverage the company’s precision fermentation technology to share the future of that market. “By using science as an alternative way, we reduce the pressure on wild and native bees,” he added. “There is a rising demand for honey, but by making it our way, we help bee biodiversity. American companies import honey from all regions of the world, and that process is getting more complicated and the quality is not always guaranteed, meaning it might not be real honey. By making it here, we simplify the supply chain, and with a domestic supplier, there are no late deliveries or quality issues. MeliBio will produce honey in three shifts, 365 days per year and make it a price parody with honey on the market.” 
15 Mar, 2022
NewNet Communication Technologies, LLC, a Skyview Capital, LLC portfolio company, announced today that the company plans to acquire the former Motorola Solutions’ WiMAX business from Nokia Siemens Networks. Under the terms of the agreement, NewNet would acquire the complete WiMAX product portfolio, the related employees and assets, as well as active customer and supplier contracts. Approximately 300 Nokia Siemens Networks employees would transfer to NewNet. The companies expect to close before December 31, 2011. “The addition of the WiMAX business would enhance the breadth of NewNet’s product portfolio, R&D capabilities, customer relationships and our overall market position in providing wireless infrastructure solutions to carriers on a global basis. We are thrilled at the prospect of welcoming a world-class group of WiMAX pioneers and thought leaders to the NewNet team,” said Ron Pyles, president and CEO of NewNet. “NewNet recognizes there is enormous potential in providing outstanding products, support and services to operators who have already invested heavily in WiMAX technologies as well as those who will do so in the future. We are committed to serving the market with an industry leading roadmap and innovative product migration options.” “We believe that our current WiMAX customers would receive the highest quality products, services and sales support from NewNet,” said Marc Rouanne, head of Network Systems, Nokia Siemens Networks. “This transaction would also provide an excellent opportunity for our WiMAX employees. We have great confidence in NewNet’s plans to become a major WiMAX infrastructure provider. The company has a solid track record in acquiring telecommunication businesses and driving revenue growth.” “This transaction represents a significant milestone in our strategy of building a strong global presence in the telecommunications marketplace through NewNet Communication Technologies”, said Alex Soltani, chairman and CEO of Skyview Capital. “We are very excited about the WiMAX market opportunity and are fully committed to supporting Ron and his team as they evolve the business into a global leadership position.” As a part of the transaction the companies expect to transition approximately 300 globally deployed Nokia Siemens Networks employees to NewNet. Many of these employees are based in suburban Chicago, USA and Hangzhou, China. Nokia Siemens Networks and NewNet believe this acquisition would provide transferring employees with attractive professional growth opportunities in a solid, technologically advanced company that has an on-going focus within their core areas of expertise.  Specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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Many corporations are seeking to enhance shareholder value by divesting struggling or non-core divisions. This process is called a “carve-out” (see the last edition of AIRA Journal (Vol. 25 No. 5.) for a previous article on this topic).
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Continuum Global Solutions is a provider of omnichannel contact center services. With more than 17,000 global employees Continuum has placed a high priority on their employee’s health and well-being. Continuum Air Care is a solution in which they monitor the indoor climate at their locations and ensure a safe workplace. They continuously measure CO2 levels in their office spaces with sensors displaying measurements on a mobile dashboard and wallboard in the relevant room.
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28 Oct, 2021
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Los Angeles based private investment firm Skyview Capital (www.skyviewcapital.com) announced today that Mr. Naeem Arastu has joined as a Managing Director of the M&A team. In his new role, Mr. Arastu will serve on the Investment Committee and work with Skyview's Founder & CEO, Alex Soltani to help lead the firm's global M&A initiatives and deepen the firm's partnerships with institutional investors.
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Boston-based startup Slate, cofounded by friends Manny Lubin and Josh Belinsky to create a healthier version of the classic chocolate milk, hit a rough patch shortly after it started. When the founding duo presented their early prototype on Shark Tank back in 2019, the judges were unimpressed:
24 Sep, 2021
LOS ANGELES, CA, September 24, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ — Skyview Capital, a global private investment firm, announced that it has acquired the Digital Lumens and Encelium businesses from Osram Licht AG. Terms were not disclosed.
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