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Additional information |
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Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. |
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Overview:
Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE: SFE), a holding company, builds value in growth-stage technology and life sciences businesses by providing capital, as well as a range of strategic, operational and management resources. Our expertise and leadership help accelerate growth, build long-term value and enable business transformation for each of our partner companies. Through more than 50 years of service, Safeguard has helped build great companies that become market leaders.
Safeguard specializes in:
Growth Buyout Financings
Growth Equity Financings
Early-Stage Financings
The Safeguard Difference
Safeguard’s status as a publicly-traded company enables us to be a patient partner. We are not subject to the limits of a three-to-five-year fundraising cycle (typical with venture capital or buyout firms), enabling us to focus on growing our partner companies’ value at an appropriate pace. Safeguard provides growth capital, management and operational support, industry expertise and, when needed, an extended management team. |
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Vision:
Our Strength is in Our Strategy
Safeguard focuses on partnering with growth-stage, entrepreneurial companies that have a competitive advantage in a high-growth market.
We have identified five key strategic themes that span across both the Technology and Life Sciences industries.
Maturity
Existing technologies and therapies are reaching the end of their designed lives or patent protection. The U.S. population is aging. Industry segments are consolidating.
Migration
Businesses are adopting new technologies and revenue-generation models as cost structures change. Medical treatments are moving toward earlier intervention.
Convergence
Technology and life sciences are intersecting in fields like medical devices, targeted diagnostics and therapies.
Compliance
Regulatory compliance – including requirements from HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, The Patriot Act, and the FDA – drives business spending in both technology and life sciences.
Cost Containment
Businesses are always looking to contain spiraling costs in IT infrastructure and healthcare.
Strategic themes such as these tend to attract visionary and innovative entrepreneurs who need capital support and strategic guidance. These promising growth-stage entrepreneurial companies already have a competitive advantage and are the ideal partners for Safeguard.
Our Market Focus
We focus on acquiring primary or minority stakes in technology and life sciences companies with attractive growth prospects and capital requirements of $5 million to $50 million. We prefer candidates in large or growing markets located in the United States and Canada with competitive barriers to entry, such as proprietary technology and intellectual property. |
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History:
Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. was founded as the Lancaster Corporation in 1953. Co-founders Warren V. “Pete” Musser and Frank A. Diamond, both Philadelphia stockbrokers, established Lancaster as a holding company to invest in small firms.
Safeguard Corporation was one of Lancaster’s earliest investments. Safeguard produced a machine that perforated numbers on checks, thriving on repeat orders from thousands of small businesses that used its bookkeeping and accounting products. The company eventually became Safeguard Business Systems, and, in 1980, it was spun out as a separate, publicly-traded firm.
The parent company changed its name to Safeguard Industries in 1966 and went public in 1967. In 1971, Safeguard shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SFE. The company was subsequently renamed Safeguard Scientifics, Inc.
Historic Growth
Safeguard was the first company of its kind to leverage the benefits of a public company structure to support emerging growth companies. Throughout its history, Safeguard has developed numerous companies that have either been taken public or sold to a strategic buyer. Safeguard’s successful legacy includes the development of Novell, QVC, Cambridge Technology Partners, Internet Capital Group, CompuCom Systems and Traffic.com.
A Strategy for the Future
Safeguard’s business model forms the basis for our continued success. Our diverse range of resources and dedicated expertise makes Safeguard a trusted partner – offering a superior alternative to financial and strategic buyers by enabling business transformation and generating long-term growth. |
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