What companies do CD3 LP Funds own as of Sept 2022?

Summary: The massive CD1/2/3 discounts are due to E&P's lack of effort and competence in managing such funds, and their history with investor debacles like URF. I do more to provide meaningful insights, unpaid, with a few hours of my free time, than E&P has done in several years. E&P waste millions in investor funds working on proposals that benefit them but are not desired by CD Fund investors, and then spend more fending off acquisition by other funds (e.g. Pengana).

Previously, I detailed the specific companies owned by CD2 and CD4. Since then, E&P has actually deleted it's website pages that listed portfolio companies! Is that an appropriate action for a Responsible Entity?! Using the Wayback Machine I will be republishing these company lists and then, as before, adding extra insight.

In this post, I will provide some insight into the specific companies that CD3 owns via its U.S. LP Funds.

The more they hide data, the more damning this gets!

Details:

1. The CD Funds website has very little info on what each fund currently owns

Each CD Fund page has barely changed over several years. They list the Underlying U.S. Fund Managers and previously linked to Fund Manager pages which listed a selection (i.e. not all) of the companies owned in the LP. After I started publishing my insights (and criticising their incompetence), E&P have deleted the LP Fund pages and there is now no information on portfolio companies whatsoever!

Previously, asterisks would occasionally get put against companies that have been sold but this was always out-of-date.

In this post, I'm going to show investors how to identify current companies held as accurately as possible so they can do their own research. And then, make informed decisions on buying, selling or holding the different funds (CD1, CD2, CD3, CD4) and the type and level of exposure they are seeking or comfortable with - especially given CD1/2/3 trade at big discounts.

Note:
CD1 was previously listed as USF (US Select Private Opportunities Fund I)
CD2 was previously listed as USG (US Select Private Opportunities Fund II)
CD3 was previously listed as USP (US Select Private Opportunities Fund III)


2. First, identify the actual LP Fund the Underlying Fund Manager is using for your CD Fund

E&P typically refers to the Underlying Fund Manager name but doesn't consistently use the actual LP Fund names in its Fund Updates. On its website, it should explain there are multiple LP funds for each Underlying Fund Manager.

Below are all of the LP Fund names for CD3, in order of current holding value which you get from the most recent report, either annual or half-yearly. Below is updated from the annual report ending 31 Mar 2023.

1. $40.19m. US Select Direct Private Equity II. Portfolio/Company page
> US Select Direct Private Equity II (US) LP. CD Fund site lists 11: Shorecal, Spincar, Nosara Capital Management, Jet Linx, Integrated Energy Services, Next Level Apparel, Topgolf*, CAPP & Co, ResourcePro, KnowBe4, BBQGuys.com

2. $14.35m. GemSpring Capital. Portfolio/Company page
> Gemspring Capital Fund I LP. CD Fund site lists 11: A10 Capital^, TMP Worldwide, Therma Corporation*, United Group Programs^, Cforia Software^, Bobit Business Media^, Insurvia^ (pr Fiesta Insurance), Rapid Displays, Crafty Apes^, Shrieve Chemical Company^, Skyline Displays^, Outform^, Valant^

3. $13.22m. New Mainstream Capital. Portfolio/Company page
> NMS Fund III LP. CD Fund site lists 7: Grape Tree Medical Staffing^, Exo Group^, DCM Services^, US Foot & Ankle Specialists^, U.S. Urology Partners^, JAFLO, Inc. (Treeways^), Center for Social Dynamics^ (CSD Autism), Strive Medical^

4. $11.22m. Telescope Partners. Portfolio/Company page
> Telescope Partners I LP. CD Fund site lists 6: Brandfolder*, Topbox, Brightfield^, Hotel Engine^, MedTrainer^, Domuso^, Fundraise Up^

5. $10.06m. Elephant Partners. Portfolio/Company page (none)
> Elephant Partners I LP. CD Fund site lists 8: RealSelf^, A Cloud Guru, AllBirds^, RedAwning^, Scopely, Maropost, KnowBe4, Homepolish

6. $9.41m. Encore Consumer Capital. Portfolio/Company page
> Encore Consumer Capital Fund III LP. CD Fund site lists 11: Tourtellot & Co^., Tender Belly^, Veggie Noodle, Supergoop!, Pint Size, LORAC, 4505 Meats, Kyla Hard Kombucha^, Murray's, Lion Beverage^, Love Wellness^, Open Farm^

7. $8.73m. Incline Equity Partners. Portfolio/Company page
>  Incline Equity Partners IV LP. CD Fund site lists 8: Profile Products, Charter Industries^, Caldwell & Gregory^, Continental Batteries*, Starwest Botanicals^, Unified Power^, Brown & Joseph^, Foundation Source^, BBG Real Estate Services^, Raney's Truck Parts^

8. $6.61m. Bertram Growth Capital. Portfolio/Company page
> Bertram Growth Capital III LP. CD Fund site lists 9: Registrar, LLC*, Anord Control Systems, Spectrio*, Trademark Global^, BearCom^, Best Version Media^, Flow Control Group*, Perennials & Sutherland^, Solo Stove*.

9. $6.23m. PeakSpan Capital Growth Partners. Portfolio/Company page
> PeakSpan Capital Growth Partners I LP. CD Fund site lists 11: GroupBy^, Cloudbeds^, Kenna Security*, Cyara Solutions^, MindTouch*, Epignosis^, Zingle*, Cordial Experience^, Inference Technologies*, PetDesk, MindBridge^.

10. $5.45m. Luminate Capital Partners. Portfolio/Company page
> Luminate Capital Partners LP. CD Fund site lists 7: StarCompliance, AMTdirect*, Conexiom, Oversight*, Fintech, AutoQuotes*, Comply365*.

11. $5.25m. Growth Street Partners. Portfolio/Company page
> Growth Street Partners I LP. CD Fund site lists 4: Hotel Effectiveness, Visual Lease^, ChildCareCRM, Pear Deck, HRAcuity^, Govenda^, PikMyKid^, Public Input^

12. $5.18m. Trive Capital. Portfolio/Companies page
> Trive Capital Fund II LP. CD Fund site lists 14: Florida Spine and joint Institute, California Brazing, SSW Holding Company (SSW Advanced Technologies^), Redmond & Greer*, Lucky Bucks*, Circle 8, uSell, Core Appalachia*, Fansteel, Iowa Northern^, NxEdge, Rubicon Bakers^, Field Aerospace^, Cadient Talent^, Vitesse Systems^

13. $3.63m. DFW Capital Partners. Portfolio/Company page
> DFW Capital Partners V LP. CD Fund site lists 6: Continuum Research Group, Restoration + Recovery^, ReSource Pro, Children’s Dental Health Associates, SAOL Therapeutics^, Lighting Retrofit International, Sev1Tech^

^CDFundweb Oct2023
Val: Ele6.2, Tele3.4, Lum3, Gem2.9, Gro/Peak2.7, US2.6


3. Use PitchBook to identify the exact number of companies in the specific LP Fund and the First and Last Deal Date

For example take: Elephant Partners I LP. Go to Pitchbook Profiles and search for the specific LP Fund name (Elephant Partners I not Elephant Partners II or Elephant Partners III) and write down the number of companies in it.

Pitchbook says it has 19 investments. The CD Fund page lists 8. So there are 11 missing. Searching for the known company names will often bring up private equity database sites that list some of the others.

Note: Pitchbook (or other such sources) are most accurate when they have company counts for all LP Funds from a Fund Manager. Most show some data for free. If so, one can isolate at least a couple of companies in each LP Fund. If PE databases don't currently list all LP Funds they sometimes combine them into a single listing for the Manager (e.g. Elephant Partners). The first and last Deal dates can also be useful in isolating which LP fund a company is in (See Source3 below which orders investments by date).

As an example, from additional sources (Source1, Source2, Source3) for Elephant Partners I we may add: Mosyle, Ratehub.ca, Artlist.

4. Write down the names of all companies in each LP Fund and gather essential details such as whether exited, LP Fund page, Company website, News page

Now we at least have a starting point for further research. How much time and effort you spend on further research will naturally vary depending on your level of exposure and what you're trying to achieve.

For an example of the next steps I've taken for CD2 see: > What companies do CD2 LP Funds own as of Sept 2022?

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