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NEW YORK, April 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Praesidian Capital, a leading middle market private equity firm and Michael Fernandez, long standing successful entrepreneur, today announced a joint venture, Universal Holding Group ("Universal"), which will seek equity investments in minority-owned small businesses. Since 2002, Praesidian has invested more than $850 million in 85 small businesses located across the country in a variety of sectors including niche manufacturers, distributors and service providers. Nearly 40% of the investments were made in companies that were women, minority, or veteran owned and on average, annual revenues increased by 30% since the initial Praesidian investment. Praesidian has also been very active over the years in the Small Business Administration's SBIC Program with two of its five funds receiving leverage from the SBA. Jason Drattell, Praesidian Founder stated: "With Mike's expertise in developing and leading middle market enterprises our goal is to combine our areas of experience to offer solutions to business owners in a highly underserved marketplace." Michael Fernandez, Universal Founder stated: "I have a longstanding relationship with Jason and we are proud to have partnered with the Praesidian team to share our vision of helping minority owned small businesses." To discuss prospective investment opportunities please contact: Jason Drattell: [emailprotected] (212.520.2620) Michael Fernandez: [emailprotected] (201.341.0308) Media Contact Linda Dignelli 212-520-2619 [emailprotected] SOURCE Praesidian Capital

Answer: Praesidian Capital and Universal Holding Group Announce Joint Venture to Provide Equity Capital to Minority-Owned Small Businesses