A native of Iran using money from a Kuwait company establishes his business in Park City and brings a little bit of Wall Street to Utah.
Sound like a story line for a television show? Could be.That scenario actually has unfolded in Park City as Saeed Abtahi, who has been in and out of the United States for the last 23 years, has established The Hunter Capital Group at 136 Heber Ave. and is being a facilitator between those who need some financing and investors willing to put up some money. He is the managing partner.
Aiding Abtahi in the Park City office are partners Glenn Boschetto and Kurt Larsen. Another partner, David Gittleman, runs the Atlanta office.
After Abtahi left Iran, he worked in investment banking in New York City and London for 20 years. In 1981, he visited a friend in Salt Lake City. He liked the area so much for its quality of life that he kept coming back.
Noticing there was no viable investment banking firm in Utah that could provide the financial services Wall Street companies do, he formed Hunter Capital and gathered informed and influential people around him. A $5 million loan from the Kuwait Investment Projects Co. got the company going.
Abtahi said 90 percent of Hunter Capital's business is outside Utah, but he wants people to pay attention to the state. Thus Abtahi is making overtures in Utah so that people will trust his company.
When a company needing to raise money contacts Hunter Capital, the first task is to write a due diligence report, look at the nature of the proposed transaction and the company's balance sheet, and write a prospectus or memorandum to present to potential investors.
Then, Hunter Capital officials act as agents between the borrower and the investor while negotiations continue.
Larsen said it takes years to earn a reputation in the investment banking field, but he said he feels Hunter Capital has the experts to work with Wall Street firms. Hunter Capital is paid a fee based on the success of the transaction, Larsen said.
In the company's first year, it was a facilitator in $600 million worth of transactions involving such companies as Motor Coach Industries Inc., Hormel Foods, Covenant Care, HealthRider, Wherehouse, Sitel Corp., Nutritional Supplement Investors, IMGIS and Icon Health and Fitness Inc.
Another part of Hunter Capital's expertise is mergers and acquisitions. In this process, one its officials almost becomes a part of the team for the company wanting to purchase a division from a third company. Abtahi said a due diligence report is prepared on the target company and officials of the potential purchaser decide how they will approach the other firm.
If the officials are willing to sell the entire company or a division, negotiations begin; if Hunter Capital representatives can convince both sides the proposal makes good sense for both, there usually is a deal struck.
Larsen, a former principal and partner of Aurora Capital Partners, a Los Angeles-based leveraged buyout firm with $250 million in committed capital, said Hunter Capital's deals are usually in the $25 million to $75 million range, but occasionally one runs higher and a few could be lower.