Novastar Financial, Inc. was founded in 1996. NovaStar Financial, Inc. holds non-conforming residential mortgage securities. The company's majority owned subsidiary, StreetLinks National Appraisal Services LLC, is a residential mortgage appraisal management company. Advent Financial Services LLC (Advent), a majority owned subsidiary of the company, provides access to tailored banking accounts, small dollar banking products and related services to meet the needs of low and moderate income level individuals. The company’s portfolio of mortgage securities includes interest-only, prepayment penalty, and overcollateralization securities retained from its securitizations of nonconforming, and single-family residential mortgage loans. Its portfolio of mortgage securities also includes subordinated mortgage securities retained from its securitizations and subordinated home equity loan asset-backed securities (ABS) purchased from other ABS issuers.

Gemina was established in 1961, under the name of Compagnia Generale Alimentare S.r.l., as a holding company operating in the food sector. During the 1970's, the company took on its current name and started operating as an industrial holding company, and in 1981 was listed on the Milan Stock Exchange. During the '80s, the company launched an investment program in the financial and merchant-banking sectors. In 1996, the company started progressively reducing its financial sector investments, which were no longer considered strategic, and redirected its energies, mainly focusing on the industrial sector. In March 1997, Gemina's partial division, with the establishment of the beneficiary HdP, started gaining effectiveness. Indeed, the shareholdings in the industrial companies present in Gemina's investment portfolio were transferred to HdP. Gemina then concluded the divestment of its financial assets, direct to acquire, by launching, in the second half of 1998, a new investment program:significant quotas of shareholdings in companies, operating in well-established businesses and capable of ensuring a suitable level of soundness to the company portfolio and in medium/small sized companies operating in the production of goods and services and with good development prospects. Starting from 2000 Gemina focuses its activities on directing and controlling its subsidiaries. In the same period Gemina takes part in the privatization of ADR (managing company of Roma’s airports) and develops its core business in the area of airports’ infrastructures. In the meantime Gemina divests its shareholdings in the other subsidiaries and today it holds the 95,76% of ADR shares’ capital that is the most important asset of Gemina’s group.

Oak Investment Partners is a multi-stage venture capital firm. The primary investment focus is on high growth opportunities in Broadband Internet and Wireless Communications, Information Technology and Software Outsourced Services, Consumer Internet/New Media, Financial Services Technology, Healthcare Information and Services, Clean Energy, and Retail. Over a 31-year history, Oak has achieved a strong track record as a stage-independent investor funding more than 481 companies at key points in their lifecycle. Oak has been involved in the formation of companies, funded spinouts of operating divisions and technology assets, and provided growth equity to mid- and late-stage private businesses and to public companies through PIPE investments.

Ranger Aerospace was founded in 1997. Enlisting institutional investors and venture capital firms as shareholders, the company funds aviation services and aerospace support firms. Focusing on government services, the company owns airfield services and logistics firm CAV International and US Logistics (tactical vehicle overhauls, logistics, technical staffing), both of which are part of its growing private equity investment vehicle, Ranger International Services. CAV and USL serve the Department of Defense from US military bases and international.

Austin Ventures has corralled themselves a heapin' helpin' of a whole different breed -- the nerd herd. The venture capital firm offers funding mainly to software, computer hardware, semiconductor, communications, and business services startups. Focused on investment opportunities in the Southwest (and still with a heavy Texas concentration despite looking outward), Austin Ventures typically invests from $100,000 to $20 million per transaction, usually holds its investments long-term, and almost always takes a seat on the acquired firm's board. Austin Ventures also assists clients in hiring management, setting up compensation plans, and going public.

Red Rock Ventures is a Palo Alto, California-based venture capital investment partnership specializing in seed and early- stage information technology investments. The general partners, Robert G. Todd, Curtis (Kip) Myers, Peter Dumanian and Laura Brege have extensive backgrounds as operating managers, entrepreneurs, founders and venture capital investors. Their record in successfully founding and/or financing high-technology companies has created substantial market value and investor returns for the past 20 years. Red Rock currently manages $220 million in committed capital.

Warburg Pincus LLC is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in all stages of a company’s life cycle from founding startups, early-stage financings, growth equity investments, and developing companies to restructurings, recapitalizations, and management buyouts of mature businesses. The firm also invests in change in control leveraged buyout transactions, divisional spin-outs of non-core corporate assets, minority private investments in public companies, and special situations transactions with a focus on acquisition of undervalued companies. It typically invests in financial services; healthcare; media, information and communication technology, and telecommunications; energy; consumer and industrials; and real estate sectors. Within healthcare and life sciences, the firm seeks to invest in healthcare services, medical devices, biotechnology, and specialty pharmaceuticals. In medical devices, it focuses on investments in diabetes, interventional cardiology, interventional neurology, orthopedics, and urology/gynecology.Within financial services, the firm primarily invests in specialty and consumer finance, private banking, payment and transaction processing companies, insurance companies, financial technology, exchanges, banks, depository institutions, and asset and wealth management. Within technology, media, and telecommunications, it typically invests in software, financial technology, business services, semiconductors and systems, and information and Internet. In software, the firm invests in industry-specific enterprise applications, information security, SaaS, open source, and alternative business models, data center automation, and business intelligence, analytic applications, and decision support. Within financial technology, it focuses on technology/ technology-enabled solutions or software, transaction processing/outsourcing/utilities/exchanges, and data.

Noble Fund Managers manages funds for a worthy list of institutional and retail customers. Noble Fund Managers invests in UK small- and mid-cap equities and engages in venture capital financing. Among its investment vehicles are venture capital trust Noble AIM VCT, CF Noble UK Smaller Companies Fund, and Noble Health Fund VCT. Noble Fund Managers also offers investment advisory services and offers operator services for more than 75 third-party managed funds. Noble Fund Managers is a subsidiary of investment bank Noble Group, which operates in the UK and India.

Weeden & Co. works to weed out information so it can provide clients with institutional equities trading, fixed income sales and trading, and research services. Weeden & Co. LP specializes in difficult-to-execute transactions, serving some 1,500 institutional clients. Weeden's research division, which includes The Leuthold Group, produces a variety of analytical reports on equity and fixed-income markets. Research affiliates cover such sectors as technology, health care, biotechnology, and REITs. Brothers Frank and Norman Weeden founded the company in 1922, and the company has been employee-owned (more than 80%) since 1986. Weeden & Co. LP has offices in Boston; Chicago; Greenwich, Connecticut; Minneapolis; and San Francisco.

Managing partners Alan E. Goldberg and Robert D. Lindsay founded Lindsay Goldberg in 2001. Currently, the firm has about 80 companies in its portfolio. Growing businesses that want to bring in additional capital may choose to add Goldberg Lindsay & Co. (Lindsay Goldberg) to their ownership rosters. The private equity firm targets family-owned businesses and entrepreneurships in various industries for long-term investment. Often remaining in investments for 10 to 20 years, Lindsay Goldberg typically partners with management by installing board members at companies its invests in. Through various affiliates, the firm has a national presence in the US, as well as in Germany and Norway.

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