Announcing Finalists in the van Biema Small Cap Challenge

van Biema Value Partners, an investment adviser specializing in identifying, vetting, and investing in small, value-oriented hedge funds, and legend Chuck Royce are pleased to announce the Finalists in the recently completed van Biema Value Partners Small-Cap Challenge. The initiative was designed to identify talented managers in the US small-cap space.

Select managers named below will now be invited to participate in a new van Biema Manager Platform, receiving advice in business development and operations, and gaining exposure to van Biema’s broader network. Upon completion of investment and operational due diligence processes, exceptional candidates will be eligible for direct investment from van Biema.

We quote directly from the van Biema team,

”We chose four finalists, and also awarded two honorable mentions. We were pleased with the high quality of the submissions and are grateful to all who participated.

Finalists were selected on the basis of the quality of the stock idea and that of the write-up, itself. All provided well-reasoned, well-presented investment theses, indicating thorough research and a keen focus on key issues and risks. We particularly valued the authors’ insistence on a significant margin of safety, whether that rested on a substantial discount to the value of underappreciated hard assets (in the cases of Trecora Resources and Lucara Diamond) or to that of the earnings power of a competitive business model and quality management (in the case of Mesa Laboratories). We were also impressed by an attention to the alignment of other key shareholders (central to the Hill International thesis) and to that of management (particularly in the case of Lucara Diamond). Acknowledgment of the risks faced by an investment, and attention to the quality of the balance sheet, providing downside protection, also weighed significantly on our choices.

We look forward to engaging with the managers in person, through both our follow-up meetings and our Ocean House retreat.”

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Finalists (in alphabetical order):

Long on HILL INTERNATIONAL INC (HIL:US)
Wills Manley (Mitotic Investments)

Long on LUCARA DIAMOND CORP (LUCRF:US)
William Thomson (Massif Capital)

Long on MESA LABORATORIES INC (MLAB:US)
Douglas Ott (Andvari Associates)

Long on TRECORA RESOURCES (TREC:US)
Matt Hagerty (Lawton Park Capital Management)

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Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order):

Long on NORTH AMERICAN ENERGY PARTNERS INC (NOA:US)
Amit Batra (Ratel Capital Management)

Long on RIGHTSIDE GROUP LTD (NAME:US)
Luis Sanchez (Anaxi Capital Management)

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Our sincere congratulations to the Finalists/Honorable Mentions, and our thanks goes out to all those who participated in the initiative.

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