What Do You Get When You Take The Adventure Out of Investing?

Profit.

Austin-Based Littlefield Corporation Thrives on
Its Concept of Adventure-less Capital™

AUSTIN, Texas - Don't expect to hear conventional wisdom from Jeffrey L. Minch on the subject of making money. His investment philosophy is the antithesis of the high-tech, high-risk, New Economy strategies that burned many a venture capitalist as the NASDAQ went through the floor.

Minch has made his fortune over the past two decades in Austin by being a business contrarian, and his theories seem particularly relevant in the wake of the dot.com meltdown.

He is so proud of his concept that he has trademarked it, and he operates the Austin-based public Littlefield Corporation under its precept every day. Minch calls his strategy "Adventure-less Capital™," which captures his belief that there is money to be made from investing in old-line mom-and-pop businesses that have verifiable steady cash flows, but lack the adventure of the recent high tech feeding frenzy.

"These businesses are frequently not very glamorous, but they have generated verifiable cash flow for many years," Minch said. "Typically, the founders have no succession plan in place, a significant amount of their personal wealth locked up in the business and potential buyers are few and far between." Minch said acquisitions of these businesses can be made for three to five times the previous 12 months' cash flow, a bargain compared to New Economy firms.

"We acquire these companies and provide an immediate infusion of capital and technology. We almost always leave most of the current line managers in place," Minch said. "By putting the acquisitions under the Littlefield umbrella, we're able to centralize the marketing, accounting, finance and human resource functions - things that managers really don't like to do. This frees the companies' managers to focus on core business growth, customer satisfaction and to dramatically build on their profitability."

Minch is joined by a board of directors at Littlefield Corporation with deep roots in Austin and the South and in business. Daniel Deloney is chairman of the board; he is the president and chairman of Montgomery, Alabama-based Rice Financial Corporation. Well-known Austinites Gordon McNutt Jr. and F. Gary Valdez are vice chairman and director, respectively, and play an active role in policy-making for the company.

A hot button for Minch is when he hears venture capitalists talking about exit strategies from the moment they invest their first dollar in a project. "I'm looking to invest for the long term," Minch said. "Our goal is to run a company that pays investors back by producing solid cash flow and stock price growth, to harness the arbitrage between private company values and public company multiples of cash flow."

Under Minch's leadership, Littlefield Corporation is building an unusual array of holdings that, all told, have caused the company's stock price (OTCBB: LTFD) to rise almost 300% in two short years. At first glance, the units acquired by Littlefield seem to have little in common. But hold them up against the Adventure-less Capital™ yardstick, and the logic becomes clear.

For instance, Minch has acquired several of Austin's best-known hospitality companies within the past year, including Word of Mouth Catering, Premiere Party Rental and Austin Tents and Events, and incorporated them into a business unit called Littlefield Hospitality. "All of these firms were extremely well-established and have incredible good will among their customer base," Minch said. "What Littlefield was able to bring to the table was a consolidation of the administrative side of the businesses. Now the managers are back to doing what they do best-catering beautiful food and putting together memorable events."

Minch intends to template this hospitality idea and move it out into other communities in the Southwest and Southeast United States. "It just makes a lot of sense for a customer to be able to go to one showroom and see exactly what their table setting will look like, what their menu options are, and what the venue possibilities may be."

One of the company's most important units is Littlefield Entertainment, which operates charitable bingo halls in Texas, Alabama and South Carolina and which produces 62 percent of the company's revenues. Minch predicts that this unit will continue to be a major source of profit for Littlefield. "Charitable bingo - which is really a real estate-based business-is an arcane $12 billion industry that helps support non-profit organizations all over the country," Minch said. "It certainly fit my criteria-not glamorous by any means, but highly profitable and very stable."

Littlefield Entertainment's charity clients have reaped in excess of $8,500,000 over the last three years to fund their noble causes. In this regard, Littlefield also provides a socially responsible investment vehicle for shareholders interested in doing a bit of social good while putting their money to work.

Littlefield Corporation has settled into its new headquarters-the striking old Lumberman's building at 2501 North Lamar. Minch is in the process of remodeling the building and refreshing the gardens and the sweeping lawn, long an Austin landmark.

"I like to say that value is created by bringing organization out of chaos," Minch said. "That's exactly what we're doing at Littlefield Corporation."

All headlines for: LTFD