Search Successes
Fenix/Union Pacific Railroad (NYSE - UNP)

Corporate Divisional Spin-offs

Union Pacific Corporation owns a broad array of technology assets traditionally focused on enhancing operations of its core transportation businesses. Our client, Fenix, was a wholly-owned subsidiary formed to monetize UP's portfolio of technology companies, assets and expertise.

Fenix served as a holding company for UP technology companies that have existing operations, fully-developed products, revenue streams and net income. Included in the technology portfolio are wireless software products for mobile professionals; transportation management software and services, including new generation products to track freight shipments and provide supply chain (SCM) visibility; enterprise workforce management software; and gateway messaging services as well as a variety of e-commerce and transaction processing applications

Fenix's overall mission was to increase shareholder value by expanding these software, hardware, and infrastructure products beyond the railroad market and into the growing technology market, with the eventual goal of taking these companies through an IPO when the timing was right.

Retained Search Projects (2000 -2001)

CEO search assignment
Transcentric, St. Louis, MO
Supply Chain Management (SCM) Software & Exchange Services

CEO search assignment
TIMERA, Inc, Houston, TX
Mobile Workforce Management Software

In June 2000 we were retained when a former Nokia executive who knew us from our work in telecom software was named CEO of Fenix/UP. He engaged us to recruit CEO's for two software / eCommerce companies in the FENIX portfolio, as listed below. These were wholly owned subsidiaries in the technology directorate of Union Pacific Railroad in the Supply Chain Management (SCM), and Mobile Workforce Management spaces.

We quickly built rich databases in both of these technology areas, as well as technology markets which were closely aligned in terms of value proposition, revenue architecture, deal size, customer base, etc. We assembled an exhaustive listing of potential source companies in the US & Canada from which to recruit comprising:

• Publicly traded pure-play companies in the SCM space
• Public companies with significant vertical divisions addressing SCM technology & operations
• VC/private equity backed pure-play startups
  
  

When it became obvious in 2001 that the IPO window had disappeared indefinitely, Fenix and its portfolio companies were eventually folded back into Union Pacific Railroad, and are still run as wholly-owned UP subsidiaries.