About Delmar Capital

Delmar Capital is a family-backed asset manager focused on private companies in the lower middle market. We are:

Focused on services and products companies that can be improved with the introduction of world-class homegrown software

Experts in the infrastructure and geospatial markets, with deep experience in healthcare and insurance services

Professionals who have worked together for over a decade and have diverse and complementary expertise in operations, software development, corporate turnarounds, and finance & accounting

Long-term investors with a “buy and build” mentality

Our Team

John Lancefield

Founder

Michael Nieminen

Partner

Larry Gatien

Partner

John Till

Partner

John Lancefield

Founder

John currently serves on the boards on the holding companies of International Cybernetics Company, LP (ICC) and Shadin, L.P. He was a mergers and acquisitions associate at Gleacher Partners, a boutique M&A and restructuring firm in New York, prior to becoming a partner at a New York-based long / short equity hedge fund ($2 billion AUM), during which time he managed the firm’s London office and European investing activities among other duties. John previously acted as CEO of Quality Underwriting Services (QUS), one of Canada’s largest paramedical vendors, before selling the company to a publicly traded US laboratory company. He graduated cum laude from Harvard College.

Michael Nieminen

Partner

Michael has spent his career bringing software solutions and operational improvements to diverse services businesses in the insurance, healthcare and infrastructure industries. He currently serves as CEO of ICC, spearheading all management functions of the company including ongoing efforts to introduce novel software solutions to transform the way that governments monitor and maintain their most valuable assets: road networks. Previously, he was a Project Manager at another large road condition data equipment and services company, serving as Director of Operations, and later Director of Technology Development following the company’s successful sale to publicly traded parent. Michael was thereafter CIO at QUS and served as its President and COO prior to its sale. He holds a BASc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and M.S. in Management Information Systems from University of Illinois at Springfield.

Larry Gatien

Partner

Larry has extensive experience in the operational and balance sheet restructuring of troubled companies and has led numerous corporate turnarounds in differing capacities and various industries (retail, healthcare, insurance, technology, and infrastructure services). He acted as General Manager for We Care Health Services, a private Canadian for-profit home nursing care company with 70 franchisees. Larry subsequently served as acting President and CFO at Tabi International Corporation (formerly Cotton Ginny Ltd.), a 300-store retail chain with $200 million of sales, following a successful restructuring under Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), the Canadian legal bankruptcy process. In his capacity as President and CEO of the road services company where he worked with Michael, he returned a distressed company to profitability prior to its sale. Larry thereafter led an investor group that acquired QUS after forcing the company through a rapid in-court restructuring process, and worked with Michael and John at the company prior to its sale in 2016. Larry is a retired certified general accountant and graduated from Seneca College.

John Till

Partner

John serves as CFO of ICC, where he oversees all accounting and finance functions in addition to leading broad operational and strategic growth initiatives. Previously, John was a senior auditor at Ernst & Young, where he was a member of audit teams in both the public and private sectors, including private equity-backed companies. He began his career as the Lead Operations Analyst at a family-owned multi-specialty eye care practice in the southeast, where he led negotiations with insurance carriers and was responsible for the operational logistics of new office and ambulatory surgery center openings and expansions. John is a CPA and holds bachelor and master’s degrees in accountancy from University of South Florida.

Philosophy

Integrity

We hold ourselves to the highest ethical standard in everything we do. Our reputation is more important than getting a good deal.

Insight

Delmar’s principals and partners have worked with global public companies and small growth stories, across capital structures, in all phases of companies’ lifecycles from start-up to restructuring, with extensive experience on the ground in the US, Canada, and Europe. We love learning about new businesses, and generally have some familiarity with most every industry we encounter.

Commitment

Delmar’s partners have a significant personal commitment to its investments, with their own capital at risk in every transaction. We furthermore seek to drive value creation in investments by directly tying management’s compensation to our collective success.

Patience

Delmar recognizes that companies generally follow an uneven path to success, with obstacles along the way. Our model differs from the traditional private equity approach in large part because we have no defined investment time horizon. While we are open to monetizing investments at the appropriate price, Delmar’s ideal hold period is forever.

Diligence

We are not afraid to get our hands dirty, and are happy to acquire businesses challenged by issues that have not received the requisite capital or attention to fix them prior to our involvement. We welcome restructuring (financial and/or operational) situations where others might not see opportunity.

Focus

Delmar does only one deal at a time, and we believe that a deep understanding of an industry coupled with a exhaustive operational review post-acquisition is a powerful formula for success. We choose our shots carefully.