A private holding company
We acquire exceptional companies and operate them for the long term.
323 Capital is a private holding company founded by Michael Williams. We give owners a permanent home for what they have built, beginning with our acquisition of Midwest Information Systems, makers of PAXIT.
Permanent capital
We buy to hold. No fund clock, no plan to sell.
Hands-on owners
We work in the businesses we own, not just on them.
Proven to close
One company acquired. Actively searching for the next.
Why we exist
Every enduring company deserves an owner who cares what happens next.
Across the country, a generation of founders is approaching succession. Most buyers offer a transaction: a price, a process, a handoff. We offer stewardship. A permanent home for the business, continuity for the people who built it, and hands-on ownership from day one.
That is what we did at MIS, and it is what we will do with the next company we are fortunate to own.
Owned and operated
by Midwest Information Systems
- Sector
- Microscopy imaging software & hardware
- Headquarters
- Schaumburg, Illinois
- Founded
- 1988
- Acquired
- December 2024
For more than three decades, Midwest Information Systems has built PAXIT: image management, measurement, and analysis software, alongside PAXcam microscope cameras, trusted in pharmaceutical, pathology, and industrial laboratories.
323 Capital acquired MIS on New Year's Eve 2024: the first company in a group built to endure.
What we look for
Five things we care about in every company.
- 01
People
Strong teams build strong companies. We look for businesses where the people are the advantage, and we keep them.
- 02
Longevity
Ten or more years in operation. Companies that have proven themselves across economic seasons.
- 03
Profitability
Durable margins and real cash flow: earned economics, not projections.
- 04
Customers
Recurring and returning revenue, low concentration, and relationships measured in years.
- 05
Growth
Markets with a long runway, and a business with a track record of earned momentum.
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The founder
Michael Williams
Michael spent a decade in finance, much of it managing money for institutions, before leaving to do something simpler and harder: buy one good company and run it well. Today he is the owner of Midwest Information Systems.
He founded 323 Capital on a simple conviction: great businesses deserve owners who keep their promises.
Considering the next chapter for your business?
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