WHITEHALL GROUP

December 2012

PROVIDING SERVICES TO COMPANIES IN TRANSITION

A Whitehall update from Joe Bione...
I hope with the election behind us and the holiday season in front of us that this newsletter finds you well. It has been quite a ride over the past few years with a lot of challenges and changes, in both our business and personal lives. The one thing that has been consistent is change, and it seems like the pace has increased. Whitehall has been no exception and we are evolving to keep up with the needs of our customers. When I founded Whitehall over 20 years ago, we were best known as an automotive turnaround and restructuring firm doing a lot of interim management and supplier development work. As time went on, we developed a very strong financial team and could address most issues facing the industry.

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Our capabilities to understand processes could quickly guide a company to reduce costs, improve quality and delivery, and make significant improvements to the bottom line. While improving performance we also drove culture change, installed daily metrics and established organizational accountability. These are our roots and our DNA of assisting companies in making significant operational improvements. In 2012, we were recognized as a Manufacturing Leadership (ML) 100 award winner for one of our turnaround projects. We were always involved in buying and selling companies, identifying technology issues and managing nonautomotive situations, yet these areas of expertise were not widely visible and in many cases we had to outsource some portion of our work due to licensing constraints and a lack of specific skill sets on staff. Over the past few years, we have built upon our strengths and addressed areas that we needed to bring in house in order to meet the needs of customers in todays marketplace. We wanted to do that without losing sight of our core strengths and the market needs. Today, Automotive is still at our roots, as we provide supplier development and risk identification/mitigation to many large Automotive companies. But the majority of our clients over the past 5 years have been manufacturing and distribution companies in almost every industry, from a 100 year-old candy company to a major consumer products manufacturing company, to a company servicing the waste water treatment industry. We have also added a strong team in the technology field with industry expertise as Chief Information Officers for major companies and a process and system specialist with deep expertise in process redesign, system evaluations and implementation. We know how to improve the bottom line for manufacturing and service companies. Traditionally we worked with companies in trouble or had major issues that needed to be addressed. Today we are spending most of our time with companies who are profitable and want to address a specific business need, such as improving quality or service levels, or reducing inventory or costs to put more profits on the bottom line. Finally, todays companies seem to be faced with two options: grow and acquire, or sell. In either case, having the current operation running as optimally as possible creates the opportunity for both options. Guiding companies in that transition is what we do best. We now have the ability to assist in the Buy/Sell process through our partnership with the McLean Group LLC (27 offices around the country) who was named Middle Market Firm of the Year in 2012. In addition McLeans valuation practice did over 300 valuations last year and their market intelligence practice is one of the countrys best. We have also developed strong working relationships with other private equity firms that are constantly looking for investment opportunities. The bottom line is that we have built on our strengths and core competencies and brought those complementary services in house to better serve any manufacturing or distribution company's needs. We are excited about these changes and hope to continue building on our relationship with you. Our goal is to maintain our reputation as an organization that can assist your firm or your customers and their supply base in this ever changing and very demanding environment. Happy Holidays and thank you from all of us at Whitehall.

WHITEHALL GROUP, L.L.C.

WHITEHALL GROUP
PROVIDING SERVICES TO COMPANIES IN TRANSITION
What We Have Been Up To Lately

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In the last few months, the Whitehall Group has taken on several key projects for clients that demonstrate our ability to drive value for companies in transition. These clients needs ranged from interim management to operational and financial support, but in each case, required Whitehall to serve as a catalyst to realize the strategy execution and deliver results: Successful Interim Management for a $500 MM global manufacturer owned by three large private equity groups: Our team held key interim management positions in a leading manufacturer of PET plastic containers, and delivered outstanding operational results. The entity was able to stabilize revenue and deliver profits for the first time in eight years. This strong performance followed a bankruptcy and re-organization of the company in less than five months, including taking the company from public to private. Joe Bione, our President, was recognized with a 2012 Manufacturing Leadership Award from Manufacturing Executive in the Turnaround Category for his work with the client. This prestigious award confirms Joes contributions over an extended period of time as well as his turnaround success on this project. Achieving a more competitive lead time for a $500 MM component manufacturer. This organization was seeking to grow its business in the commercial market as its military sales decreased, and its product lead time became a competitive disadvantage. We were engaged to accelerate ongoing efforts in demand and supply optimization, and helped deliver a global process to establish a demand forecast for operational planning purposes. Along the way, we helped the client identify multi-million dollar savings in inventory, supported efforts with supplier quality, and positioned the organization to drive top-line revenue. Identifying the growth constraints for an expanding manufacturer. We performed an assessment of a privately held business that had experienced rapid growth for the prior three years and then plateaued. Our work identified growth constraints in information flow, metrics and accountability. Then we facilitated strategic sessions for the leadership team and owners to align objectives and deliver on strategy execution. We have since become a trusted advisor to the company, and facilitated the hire of one of their new executives. Performed a financial viability review and operational support for two entities on behalf of their lenders. In the first, we assessed the sales process, pipeline, quoting, and performance metrics, and implemented a more selective and strategic approach to quoting This enabled the company to close $4 million in sales within four weeks of our work , and the lender to agree to a plan for an increased LOC and funding needs over the next nine months. In the second, we established a 26-week cash flow for a manufacturer that had never viewed the business in that manner, and enabled additional financing of $300,000 and a LOC increase of over 30%. Rich Pirrotta, Managing Director - Whitehall Group

WHITEHALL GROUP, L.L.C.

WHITEHALL GROUP
PROVIDING SERVICES TO COMPANIES IN TRANSITION
Whitehall Partners with The McLean Group to Provide Expanded Services to Our Customers

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Many business owners are asking today Whats next for my company? Should I continue to grow the company profitably on its current business base, acquire an add-on business, or start the exit process and eventually sell the business? Whitehall, through our partnership with The McLean Group, now has the ability to support companies in either mode of transition Founded in 1997, The McLean Group is a national, middle market investment bank with deep expertise in a variety of industry verticals. Headquartered in McLean, VA,, The McLean Group is among the largest independent middle market investment banks in the region. Its umbrella of services includes Mergers & Acquisitions, Business Valuation, Strategic Consulting, Market Intelligence and Competitive Analysis, and Operational Improvement. In recent years, The McLean Group has been building a global reputation for excellence: Acquisition International named it the USA Middle Market Investment Bank of the Year in 2012. Steve Findlay, a McLean Group Managing Director, observes, The McLean Groups recent affiliation with the Whitehall Group significantly expands our service offerings and provides expanded capabilities to work with companies in transition. A prospective client may be a good company wanting to get better; a small company seeking to grow; a large company wanting to divest; a troubled company looking to improve its performance, or an owner wanting to sell and retire. Working with Whitehall Partners, The McLean Group can help all such client. We listen closely to our clients and customize the appropriate solution and expertise needed to accomplish their goals. Steve FindlayManaging Director - Whitehall and McLean Group

Our core advisory services include:

Our sell side advisory services address a wide range of business succession and shareholder liquidity objectives. The McLean Group applies a comprehensive approach to all client engagements. We guide our sell side clients through the intricacies of each transaction stage, from predeal strategic planning to identifying and negotiating with prospective suitors, to due diligence support and closing.

Our team of experienced bankers understands the complexities and risks involved in buying a company, and we work with our clients to control the process and mitigate potential risk by providing sound strategy and valuation guidance based on comprehensive research.

As a core competency and complement to its merger & acquisition business, The McLean Group provides business valuation services, including intangible asset and financial security valuations for a variety of transaction, financial reporting and tax purposes.

By creating superior competitive analyses, we provide executives with comprehensive market intelligence reports that reduce risk and uncertainty in strategic decisionmaking.

WHITEHALL GROUP, L.L.C.

WHITEHALL GROUP
PROVIDING SERVICES TO COMPANIES IN TRANSITION
Technology Services

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As part of a focus on improving current business performance, bridging a temporary resource gap, or in preparation for a strategic business change, securing appropriate IT capabilities and leadership remain critical for success. Organizations in transition can find themselves in a situation where short-term and long-term technology needs are unclear. Often, past technology choices and delivery strategies need to be reassessed along with organizations evolving priorities and transition initiatives. Successful organizations treat the alignment of IT capabilities as a continuous activity of verification and adjustment. Utilizing an IT business professional helps assure that all strategic IT functions remain in balance with Rick Varner enterprise objectives. Whitehalls Technology Services are focused on the agenda of business transition through technology enabled lean operations, guided performance improvement, competitive sourcing and modern delivery strategies. Based on client need and timing, we provide vendor independent support for:
IT Functions

Guided Transitions Leadership Services Portfolio Alignment Through our Technology Services, businesses of any size can secure experienced, trusted resources to provide IT business guidance and leadership to help top management establish the best IT strategy and objective-based spending decisions.

Technology Trends
Companies today need an adaptive and flexible business design to create on-going value for all stakeholders. Today, a business must be able to leverage new technologies that support strategies to remain competitive in this ever changing global economy. Technologies like cloud computing, Software as-a-Service (SaaS), and Mobile, are starting to drive decisions when selecting the appropriate IT/IS platform. The general consensus in todays enterprise software space is that cloud computing and SaaS are the waves of the future. Industry analysts and vendor sales representatives are proclaiming that SaaS Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are cheaper, faster, and easier, while traditional ERP Bill Gagnier vendors are doing what they can to avoid being perceived as Big Costly ERP solution providers. By now, 92 percent of manufacturers have implemented some level of ERP*. Still, recent data finds that a successful ERP project goes well beyond just implementation. ERP, and the organization itself, should be constantly moving forward to improve operations. Successful manufacturers tailor their ERP systems in an effort to stay connected to a dynamic business climate. This can include adding new functionality or mobile access. The Whitehall Group LLC guides companies through the complexity of the new global economy by designing and deploying solutions (like SaaS) that rapidly transform business leadership, workforce and infrastructure. Recognizing the importance of this global technology trend the Whitehall Group LLC has established an implementation partnership with Plex Systems. This partnership builds on our ongoing efforts to deliver value to our clients.
WHITEHALL GROUP, L.L.C. 801 W. Big Beaver Rd. , Suite 400 Troy, MI 48084-4759 (248) 519-1072 Phone

For more information on how Whitehall can help you, please contact: Joe Bione at bione@whitehallgroupllc.com WHITEHALL GROUP, L.L.C.

www.whitehallgroupllc.com