Meet MN Capital Partners

Hawaii Business is grateful to MN Capital Partners, once again, for providing the research for the third annual "Top 20 Landowners" list. MN Capital is a Honolulu-based, asset-management and consulting firm specializing in alternative private equity and real estate investments. It provides consulting services for corporate strategy development, asset disposition and capital-raising activities. Prior to establishing MN Capital in 1997, its principals Eric K. Martinson and Bruce M. Nakaoka managed the multi-billion dollar investment portfolios of Kamehameha Schools. Together, the principals have more than 30 years of experience in equity real estate, credit-enhancement facilities, mortgage instruments, levered buyouts and mergers, and venture capital. Since its establishment in 1997, MN Capital Partners:

• Was selected this year to manage the pre-seed investment fund for promising technology companies at the University of Hawaii, in conjunction with the Research Corp. of UH and the Office of Technology Transfer & Economic Development. The fund provides seed capital to qualified start-up companies.
• Served as an advisor to the Queen Liliuokalani Trust during its management transition in 2002. The royal trust's portfolio is valued at $321 million.
• Completed the successful disposition of Hawaii's largest supermarket brand, Times Super Markets in 2002. MN Capital and San Francisco-based Harris Williams & Co co-advised the sale of 13 stores.
• Entered into a long-term strategic relationship with the Hawaii Strategic Development Corp. in 2001, with the creation of a private-equity fund-of-funds, called the HSDC Capital Fund LLC. MN Capital is also developing a second fund-of-funds for venture-capital investments.

Bruce M. Nakaoka,
Co-Founder
Prior to co-founding MN Capital Partners in 1997, Bruce Nakaoka was the director of the real estate investment and appraisal division for Kamehameha Schools. From 1980 to 1987, Nakaoka served as assistant vice president with Hastings, Martin & Conboy, a Honolulu commercial real estate appraisal firm that conducts appraisals and feasibility studies in Hawaii and on Guam. In addition, he was president of six wholly owned subsidiaries that developed residential and business communities in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Michigan. Nakaoka received the MAI designation from the Appraisal Institute in 1990.

HIGHLIGHTS: Director, Hawaii Chapter of the Appraisal Institute; Director, HiBEAM business accelerator; Director, McKinley High School Foundation; Member, Kamehameha Schools Board of Advisors; Member, Hawaii Venture Capital Association; Administrator, Matsuo Takabuki, Goldman Sachs, and William S. Richardson Commemorative Scholarship Funds

EDUCATION: BBA, 1980, University of Hawaii at Manoa; MBA, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1985

Eric K. Martinson,
Managing Director
Prior to forming MN Capital Partners seven years ago, Eric Martinson served in various investment-management roles for Kamehameha Schools since 1984. He ended his tenure in 1996 as the school's director of the financial asset division, responsible for internationally diversified private equity and debt investments and marketable securities portfolio. Since then, he also has served as a board member and as a corporate officer for other portfolio companies. Martinson has sat on various investment advisory boards for Kamehameha Schools' domestic and international investment partnerships and companies.

HIGHLIGHTS: Director, HiBEAM business accelerator; Member, Kamehameha Schools board of advisors; Director, Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii; Director, Na Pua a Ke Alii Pauahi; Member, Hawaii Venture Capital Association; Administrator, Matsuo Takabuki, Goldman Sachs, and William S. Richardson Commemorative Scholarship Funds

EDUCATION: BBA, finance, University of Hawaii, 1984; MBA, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, 1989

Ken Shimada,
Investment Associate
Ken Shimada joined MN Capital this year, after graduating with a BBA in finance from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He received the Kauffman Entrepreneurial Grant while at the university. Prior to joining MN Capital, he was the project manager of Hoku Scientific, a local technology company with an emphasis on fuel cells.