Governance & Philosophy

The Milliken shareholders have spent decades developing their governance structure, and it has become a strong differentiating factor for Pacolet, both internally and when working with third parties. In particular, it fosters an environment that enables management and the Board to work effectively on behalf of shareholders. It also sets up an efficient framework through which shareholders can convey their collective intent to Pacolet’s management and its Board. Aptly characterized as ‘Eyes in, Hands off’, the Pacolet Milliken shareholder group has been recognized by the Kellogg School as a leader in private company governance.

Currently, seven of our ten Board seats are held by non-shareholder directors. The three seats held by Shareholders are the result of formal voting. An active group of Shareholder Observers enlarges the depth of owner knowledge about Pacolet’s operations.

Pacolet has a permanent allocation of capital from the Milliken family, and thus has the luxury of holding investments indefinitely – even decades.  However, long-term investing does not necessarily mean long-term holding. Rather, we think a long-term mindset, combined with capital strength and strong financial analytics, enables us to harvest value opportunistically, often at times that might be inconvenient for other investors. This optionality is a potent tool in a world characterized by constant, unexpected change.

We view our operating partner network as one of our most valued assets. We have several important partnerships in both Real Estate and Power & Infrastructure that have evolved over time to enable us to participate successfully in targeted market segments, such as renewables in Energy and industrial warehouse development in Real Estate. Over the next several years, our goal is to create a network of private capital partners to complement our operating partner network. We believe this can both enhance our growth opportunities, as well as our profitability.