2024 Year in Review: The RLH Perspective
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Competitive differentiation matters. It matters for RLH, which is why we say on our website "RLH is not conventional private equity". It matters for our portfolio companies, which are pure-play leaders in their respective niches. And it even matters for Year in Review letters. So how do we make this letter stand apart from all the other retrospective summaries that you receive this month?
By combining high tech and high touch, just as many of our portfolio companies do in order to differentiate their knowledge-driven professional services solutions. The power in a combination of high tech and high touch was recognized in an engaging recent Wall Street Journal article titled The Secret Weapon Helping Businesses Get Results From AI: Humans. In the case of this letter, we combined the two by using AI to do a first draft while doing the editing and graphic refinement ourselves to give it the RLH flavor (thanks, Louie). So here we go....
PLATFORM INVESTMENTS RLH Equity Partners continued its focus on partnering with exceptional companies in high-growth, knowledge-based sectors.
Red Clay is the largest independent pure-play provider of Oracle-based consulting services to the utility sector. Red Clay helps its clients collect and analyze data from millions of meters at customer sites, perform customer service and billing, manage field service, and track physical assets. Red Clay’s comprehensive (and often multi-year) engagements include program leadership, training, integration with other software systems, and post-implementation operations support. Read more here…
The Asia Group (TAG) is a US-based management consulting firm which provides Fortune 500 clients with expertise and advice on how to achieve their business goals in Asia. TAG’s professionals possess deep understanding of the governance structures, policy objectives, and key government individuals in China, Southeast Asian nations, and India. The Company combines (i) on-the-ground experts working in Asian countries and (ii) US-based strategic leaders with federal government and business experience. TAG’s expertise in the markets, regulatory challenges, and political and reputational risks of Asia are especially relevant in view of today’s changing dynamics of the US-China relationship. Read more here…
FOUR-PEAT
RLH was honored by Inc. Business Media for the fourth (yes, 4th!) consecutive year as a Founder-Friendly Investor, an award that, according to Inc., recognizes firms that are “the backers that will have your back when you need more than just capital.” We are especially grateful to have earned this award because it is largely based on references provided by founders of our portfolio companies. Read more here…
And speaking of "x-peats",
our portfolio company Keystone hit the four-peat bullseye in 2024, being named to Forbes’ annual America’s Best Management Consulting firm list for the fourth consecutive year; and
our portfolio company MCA Connect scored a three-peat in 2024, being named to Inc.’s annual Best Workplaces list for the third consecutive year.
TEAM PROMOTIONS AND GROWTH
Our firm continues to grow, and we are pleased to celebrate the professional milestones of RLH Equity Partners' team members, whose expertise and dedication are instrumental to RLH's success.
Paul Fortin was promoted to Vice President, recognizing his leadership and contributions in investment execution and portfolio management. Paul’s current portfolio company engagements include Connors Group, MCA Connect, and The Asia Group.
Tucker Stolberg was promoted to Vice President, reflecting his outstanding work in assessing, closing, and monitoring portfolio companies. Tucker’s current Board relationships include AstoundDigital, Keystone, and Imre.
Patrick Allen was promoted to Senior Associate, acknowledging his many contributions across deal sourcing, investment assessment, thesis development and portfolio company M&A pursuits. Patrick’s efforts have advanced initiatives with many RLH portfolio companies including AstoundDigital, The Asia Group, Biorasi, Connors Group, and imre.
Sam Merriam was promoted to Senior Associate, in recognition of his strong analytical capabilities and commitment to delivering exceptional results. Sam is actively engaged with portfolio company Boards including CrossVue, CrossCountry Consulting, and Red Clay.
We would like to extend a special welcome to RLH’s new Associate, Louie, who has been executing his Employee Morale responsibilities with great enthusiasm.
We also welcomed a new Strategic Advisor to the team, Gregory Solomon. Gregory is the consummate enterprise growth strategist, with particular expertise in sales strategy and execution. He has helped a number of RLH portfolio companies develop and refine their approaches to differentiation and go-to-market activities. Gregory’s career trajectory includes almost a decade at Accenture and amazingly, started with an undergraduate degree in Theatre. We are grateful to have such a Renaissance man on our team!
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2025
As we enter the new year, we are energized by the opportunities ahead. RLH will continue to identify and support exceptional companies, leveraging our deep industry expertise, operational know-how, and enduring partnerships to achieve shared success. With the constant acceleration in the pace of innovation, our proven focus on specialized, technology-led B2B services firms positions us well for the future.
GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION
We extend our sincere thanks to our investors, management teams, and dedicated RLH team members for your trust, partnership, and commitment. It is through this collaboration that we have been able to achieve investment success for more than four decades. We look forward to continuing our shared journey.
Wishing you a prosperous, healthy, and fulfilling 2025,
The RLH Equity Partners Team