Q: Solis has portfolio companies ranging from software to shrimp, so it seems you're not sector-specific. What are some of Solis' investment criteria?

A: Our primary focus is on the entrepreneurs and business owners we partner with in transactions. An important part of our investment thesis is leveraging their industry expertise and management capabilities.

As generalists with fundamentals-based business philosophies, we target manufacturing, services and value-added distribution businesses in defensible market niches. We look for companies with $15 million to $150 million in revenue, a history of profitability and demonstrated ability to grow organically. We prefer fragmented industries with potential for accretive add-on acquisitions to supplement growth.

Q: Could you tell me about some of Solis' portfolio companies - why were they appealing, and are you considering exiting any in the near future?

These themes, along with conservative leverage, have made the portfolio resilient to broader economic conditions. As a result, we are expecting attractive exits or recapitalizations from at least two portfolio companies in the next 12 months.

Q: The way I heard about Solis was via an investor who said you exited a company this summer and the money hit his bank account with a nice return. I have to admit, I don't hear that story much, these days. How long did Solis own that company, and was the buyer a secondary financial firm, or a trade buyer?

A: Solis exited Temcor Inc. in early September after an 18 month investment period. The buyer was a "sponsored strategic" - CST Industries Inc. - which is owned by The Sterling Group out of Houston, Texas.

Temcor is in a unique niche, constructing clear-span covers, primarily aluminum domes, for petroleum, international bulk storage, water and wastewater, and architectural applications. Temcor experienced very robust growth even in difficult economic conditions.

Solis' decision to exit was based on favorable sale valuation, structure (a portion of consideration was equity in the acquiring . entity) and the fact that our operating partner in Temcor is managing the combined business operations of Temcor and CST Industries' dome division. The net investor return was 3.3x with an IRR of approximately 125%.

Q: Has your investor base changed much over the last year, and is Solis now looking to raise money?

A: Solis' investor "family" consists of family offices and high net worth individuals. This hasn't changed over the past year. We are in the early stages of raising a fund that will be anchored by our current family of investors and will also include institutions as well as new family offices and high net worth individuals.

Q: How reliant are you on financing from banks, and have you noticed increased flexibility in the lending market?

A: We typically utilize bank financing in transactions. However, we are very conservative with leverage, as we want our operating partners focusing on growth, not stressing about overly high debt service.

The banks appear to be increasingly interested in asset-based lending, but pricing has substantially increased relative to early to mid 2008 levels. Senior "stretch" or "air ball" financing currently is hard to come by and very expensive. In markets like this, we typically layer in our own mezzanine debt in addition to equity.

Q: I see that one criterion of investment is profitability. Is there any temptation to get into the distressed investing space now?

A: Solis does not invest in traditional turnarounds. However, given the overabundance of leverage and inflated purchase valuations from 2005-2008, we are now seeing some "good" companies with overleveraged balance sheets. We expect there might be opportunities among these companies.

Q: Are you looking to grow your portfolio companies now via add-on acquisitions, are you more focused on organic growth, or are you generally in a wait-and-see mentality?

A: Solis' fundamentals-based investment thesis relies on organic growth for generating a return. We view accretive acquisitions as icing on the cake, and pursue them where appropriate.

We are currently seeing attractive add-on opportunities in the freight-forwarding/logistics space, as small to medium-sized businesses do not have the scale to effectively compete in the softer economy.

Q: If there is a company you've recently grown via a bolt-on acquisition, could you talk about what industry that company operates within, how big the deal was, and where the target was based?

A: Earlier this year we closed a bolt-on acquisition of Western Fish Inc. by Certi-Fresh Foods Inc., our seafood processor. Western Fish, with fishing vessels off the coast of California and a processing facility in Baja, provides Certi-Fresh with direct sourcing capabilities that complement its core processing business. Western Fish was privately held, and terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Q: I see three of the four portfolio companies have a base in California. Are you still seeing good opportunities in your home state, or are you looking further out, now?

A: Solis has a Western U.S. focus, but it is not restricted to this geography. We like to be within a relatively short traveling distance from our management teams, as our hands-on approach is most effective with consistent in-person interaction.

Q: Are there any trends you have noticed developing that you do not think are being covered in the media? As many firms are working to stabilize troubled portfolios, there seems to be minimal news coverage of what led to this situation in the first place, namely: overabundance of leverage, inflated asset prices, and fund incentive structures that didn't always put investors' interests first.

We are pleased that investors now are searching for fund managers that share Solis' investment philosophy which focuses on business fundamentals, alignment of incentives and hands-on value creation.

Interviewed by Carina Kellam, London, ckellam@factset.com (+44) 77.0267.4485

Solis Capital Partners, LLC (Solis), a Southern California-based private equity firm, today announced the sale of its portfolio company Temcor, Inc. (Temcor) to CST Industries, Inc. (CST). Temcor is a leading global provider of specialized aluminum dome structures headquartered in Gardena, California. Temcor designs, manufactures and erects clear-span aluminum domes and specialty covers for energy, infrastructure, water and wastewater applications, and is the largest aluminum dome provider in the world with over 7,500 structures installed in 72 countries on all seven continents. CST, a portfolio company of The Sterling Group, is a global leader in the design, manufacture, and installation of storage tanks and covers headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.

"Temcor is recognized internationally as a leader in aluminum domes and specialty covers. Its engineering expertise, global selling network, world class manufacturing operations, led by an experienced management team, are a strong fit with CST’s existing businesses” said Brian Bauerbach, President and CEO of CST. “We look forward to working closely with Temcor’s management team to deliver the best storage and cover products and services to our customers worldwide.”

“We are pleased to deliver this great result to our family of investors, particularly in these difficult economic times” said Craig Dupper, Partner of Solis. “It’s nice to validate that our investment disciplines and oversight can deliver positive returns regardless of the economic cycle.”

CST Industries has built an extensive portfolio of brands and products for critical storage requirements. The Temcor acquisition further strengthens CST’s overall position and ability to serve the industry.

About Solis Capital Partners, L.L.C.:

Solis Capital Partners (www.soliscapital.com), founded in 2002, is a disciplined and innovative private equity firm focused on the middle market. Solis favors service and manufacturing companies with enterprise values ranging from $10 to $100 million, with solid management, strong business fundamentals, market cycle resilience, a history of profitability and potential for organic growth.

Solis Capital Partners, LLC, a middle-market private equity firm based in Newport Beach, Calif., today announced that it has made a $21 million equity investment in Kamino Logistics Group Limited, an award-winning global logistics provider and freight forwarder headquartered in London, New York and Shanghai. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Kamino is a $275 million revenue company founded in 1969, and provides global supply chain and freight solutions through its 23 owned facilities, and its extensive worldwide network of agent-partners located in the USA, Europe and Asia. Kamino focuses on warehousing, freight forwarding, customs brokerage, value-added distribution, EDI services, and call centers which together uniquely enables Kamino to store, distribute and even sell its customers products all over the world, more often than not in countries where its customers are not located.

"Kamino is uniquely-positioned in a large, growing and dynamic market,” said Dan Lubeck, founder and Managing Director of Solis Capital Partners. “Unlike its typical competitors, Kamino has global capabilities similar to much larger companies in its space, a culture based on tremendous flexibility and individual service, and process technology focused on helping its clients to grow and operate more efficiently. We believe that with the capital and resources that Solis brings to the table, Kamino’s growth and success will dramatically accelerate.”

"We look forward to our partnership with Solis Capital Partners,” said Jim Nayyar, Kamino’s CEO. “It was apparent to us from the start that Solis would be a great partner to Kamino. In addition to their investment, they already have proven to be a valuable resource in helping us expand our vision and develop the path to accomplishing that vision. We are very excited about our future. It is time that the market learns more about how successful we are in helping our customers source their products, locate them in the correct part of the world, and expand into more markets making their own businesses far more scaleable.”

About Solis Capital Partners

Founded in 2002, Solis Capital Partners, LLC (www.soliscapital.com) is a disciplined buyer and builder of high-quality, middle-market companies. Solis partners with select companies to create value for its investors, entrepreneurs and management teams. The company’s superior investment track record, proprietary deal flow, hands-on approach to partnerships, and depth of experience across many industries, combine to differentiate Solis from other middle-market private equity firms. Solis’ principals have extensive experience negotiating and structuring investments that align the interests of investors, business owners and management teams. The company has offices in Newport Beach, Calif. and Carlsbad, Calif.

La Jolla, California (August 01, 2006)

MIRO Technologies announced today the planned release of AuRA™ Version 2006, which incorporates over 270 modifications and represents over 9,000 labor-hours of development. The latest AuRA release includes over 70 enhancements, including a new Navigator for searching and viewing SGML-based aircraft maintenance manuals provided by OEMs. All enhancements and modifications are available to the growing list of AuRA customers worldwide. AuRA v2006 will be delivered and installed at customer sites in a phased approach commencing August 28th.

Highlights of the most significant enhancements incorporated into AuRA v2006 include:

• New OEM AMM/IPC Navigator – This new desktop is for searching and viewing aircraft Illustrated Parts Catalog (IPC) and Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) data published by the OEM. The initial version supports the upload of Airbus’ SGML-based versions of these aircraft manuals for the A320/330/340 models. The new Navigator will help airlines build and maintain fleet configuration data within AuRA.

• New Prime Update Desktop - A new desktop for managing the revision of Prime Part Numbers and the resulting impact to Warehouse Min/Max settings.

• Maintenance Worksheet Desktop – A new option is now available on this desktop to print the Work Order using a MS Word-based template that can be tailored to each customer’s needs.

• EO Desktop – A new ‘EO to AD’ link now allows EO Desktop users to jump directly to the AD information (Receipt Log of Engineering Data) for the associated AD.

• PO Creation Desktop – The PO creation process will combine multiple RFQ’s (for same vendor) when creating a PO.

• Automatic Replenishment Server – The Automatic Replenishment Server process is now capable of automatically creating and approving PO’s, based upon some configurable limits for vendors and parts.

• Component Remove/Install Desktop – This desktop now features a workflow process for dealing with the situation where a technician is unable to complete the normal process in AuRA (i.e. wrong part, wrong serial, not available for install, etc.). The user is able to record all available/known information which gets passed to records management personnel to reconcile. All information is captured in an auditable log.

• Actual Structure Desktop – This desktop now has a feature where by the Daily Average Utilization setup for a given aircraft can be automatically re-calculated based upon actual usage for any specified period.

• Maintenance Programs Desktop –It is now possible to mark selected Tasks, Default Work Orders and Profiles as disabled. Selection criteria options also enable the management of disabled records.

• Physical Inventory – The Physical Inventory process can now generate tags for Bin Locations having a zero balance

• Loan / Borrow Cost Analysis – The Loan & Borrow processes now provide the ability to capture the cost schedule associated with the given transaction. Cost breakdown includes up to 3 period-based rates, plus various overhead costs. Estimates and Actuals are tracked.

• Task Schedule Details – It is now possible to manage one-time approvals for the extension of a due date/count for a Task.

  Other AuRA desktops improved in this new release include: Deferment Management, Inventory Details, Work Order Inquiry, Structure Receiving, Structure Remove & Install, Post Flight Details and Parts Catalog.

  AuRA is a fully integrated software management system that covers all aspects of both maintenance and supply. AuRA streamlines aviation business processes and tackles some of the most complex challenges facing maintenance operations, such as Configuration Management, Maintenance Forecasting/Planning and EO Management, thus helping airline operators to improve productivity, reduce costs and turn-times and enable better decision-making.