 |
 |
Random Ramblings I’ve got a piece in the latest Buyouts Magazine about why Texas Pacific Group was selected as its 2005 Firm of the Year. In short, TPG had been about a decade ahead of its time by making contrarian bets in both What I wonder, however, is how long a first-mover advantage can last in private equity. No answers here, just thinking aloud. If TPG and a handful of other firms were in A bit of a different situation in venture capital, however, where I’d hasten to say that too many *** Still no additional info on the Acquicor/WoZ matter or on SBIC applicant demographics. Different matters entirely, linked only by the sounds of silence. *** For the second-straight year, I’ll be participating as a guest judge for the Venture Capital Investment Competition’s international finals, which takes place April 6-8 at UNC Chapel Hill. Fellow judges come from firms like Kleiner Perkins, Mobius Venture Capital, Atlas Venture, SV Life Sciences and Grove Street Advisors, while I’ll also be giving a keynote address (sure to be scintillating). Finalists include USC,
Salick Cardiovascular Centers Inc., a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based developer of cardiovascular outpatient facilities, has raised $75 million in Series A funding from Warburg Pincus. www.warburgpincus.com GUS PLC reportedly has rejected a £7 billion buyout offer for its Experian credit rating business, from a private equity consortium that included Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital. Insight Venture Partners and Lightyear Capital have acquired Realm Business Solutions Inc., a Dallas, Texas–based provider of software solutions to the global commercial real estate industry. No financial terms were disclosed. Realm had raised over $150 million in VC funding, including a $141 million infusion in 2000 from CMGI @Ventures, TH Lee Putnam Ventures, Lehman Brothers, DLJ Merchant Banking, Bear Stearns Merchant Banking, Goldman Sachs and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst. www.realm.com
EKOS Corp., a Bothell, Wash.-based provider of ultrasound-assisted fluid infusion catheters, has raised $26 million in Series C funding. Ascension Health Ventures led the deal, and was joined by Oakwood Medical Inv*stors, Trellis Health Ventures and return backers CID Equity Capital, EGS Private Healthcare Inv*stors, MedVenture Associates, Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners, Morgan Stanley Venture Partners and NGN Capital. The company has now raised around $86 million in total VC funding since its 1996 inception. www.ekoscorp.com Multifamily Technology Solutions Inc. (a.k.a. MyNewPlace), a San Francisco-based Internet listing service for apartment building leasing, has raised $8 million in Series A funding, according to a regulatory filing. Backers include Trinity Ventures and United Dominion Realty Trust. Magen BioSciences Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech company focused on the health and appearance of human skin, has raised $1.8 million in seed-round funding. ARCH Venture Partners, TVM Capital and Venrock Associates co-led the deal, and were joined by Alexandria Real Estate and Lux Capital. www.magenbiosciences.com APT Pharmaceuticals Inc. has secured $3 million in additional Series A funding from Vivo Ventures. This closes out the round at $9 million, with earlier backing from Charter Life Sciences and Research Corporation Technologies. APT is a Tuscan, Ariz.-based drug company focused on treating asthma, chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, rhinitis and rhinovirus infection.
IRphotonics, a Montreal-based provider of mid-infrared materials, has raised Cdn$4.2 million in new VC funding. Solidarity Fund QFL led the deal, and was joined by return backers Lothian Partners and Multiple Capital. Multiple also served as IRphotonics’ advisor on the deal. www.irphotonics.com The Radlinx Group, an Irving, Texas-based provider of overnight and off-site teleradiology services, has received a “substantial” amount of private equity funding from DW Healthcare Partners. No specific terms were disclosed. www.radlinxgroup.com Comverge Inc., a Norcross, Ga.-based provider of hardware and software to utilities, has raised $5.5 million in Series C funding. Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) participated as a strategic backer, and was joined by Partners for Growth and return backers Nth Power, EnerTech Capital Partners, Rockport Capital Partners, Norsk Hydro Ventures, Ridgewood Capital, Easton Hunt and Data Systems & Software Inc. www.comverge.com Centeris Corp., a Bellevue, Wash.-based provider of Linux server management in a Windows network, has raised around $11.5 million in Series B funding. Trinity Ventures and Intel Capital co-led the deal, and were joined by return backer Ignition Partners. www.centeris.com Initiate Systems Inc., a Chicago–based provider of customer data integration and enterprise master person index software, has received an undisclosed amount of strategic venture funding from In-Q-Tel. www.initiatesystems.com
Netvibes, a UK-based startup in the personalized home page space, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Index Ventures, Marc Andreesen (founder of NetScape), Pierre Chappaz (founder of Kelkoo and Wikio) and Martin Varsavsky (founder of Jazztel, Ya.com and Fon). www.netvibes.com
ITV PLC, a UK-based commercial broadcaster, has rejected a buyout offer from a private equity consortium that included Apax Partners, Blackstone Group and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners.
Weston Presidio has acquired Micro Power Electronics Inc. from Sierra Ventures and Palisades Ventures. No financial terms were disclosed. Micro Power is a Hillsboro, Ore.–based provider of both portable power solutions for mission-critical equipment and custom battery solutions to portable medical, rugged handheld computing and commercial military equipment manufacturers.
Bridgepoint has sold Hydrex Group to Quilvest and Saudi Arabian engineering firm Shoaibi Group for £106 million. Barclays provided leverage for the deal. Hydrex Group is a supplier of mobile operated equipment and associated support services for the Jones Apparel Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY) has retained Goldman Sachs to help sell the company. An auction could garner nearly $5 billion. www.jny.com DataWave Systems Inc. (OTCBB: DWVS), a Wayne, N.J.-based provider of prepaid and stored value delivery systems, said that the Sigma Opportunity Fund purchased and converted an existing convertible promissory note into 7.5 million shares of the company’s common stock, representing approximately 14% ownership position. In conjunction with the transaction, Thom Waye, managing partner of the Sigma Opportunity Fund, joined DataWave's board of directors. www.datawave.com
NexTest Systems Corp., a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of automated test equipment systems to the semiconductor industry, priced 5.4 million common shares at $14 per share ($14-$16 range), for an IPO take of approximately $75.6 million. It will trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol NEXT, while Merrill Lynch served as lead underwriter. Company shareholders include Needham Capital Partners, J&W Seligman & Co. and Anthem Ventures. www.nextest.com
Stryker Corp. (NYSE: SYK) has acquired Sightline Technologies Ltd., an Israel-based maker of flexible endoscopes for the gastrointestinal (GI) market. The deal includes an immediate $50 million cash payment, plus the possibility of up to $90 million in milestone payments. Sightline has raised VC funding from firms like Tamir Fishman Ventures, Israel Infinity Fund, Inventech, NGN Capital and Discount Capital Markets * Inv*stments. www.stryker.com L-3 Communications Holdings (NYSE: LLL) has acquired SafeView Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif.–based developer of homeland security technology. No financial terms were disclosed. SafeView had raised over $23 million in VC funding from firms like Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Paladin Capital Management, Novak Biddle venture Partners,
Okapi Ventures is looking to raise $40 million for its inaugural fund, according to a regulatory filing. So far it has around $25.5 million in commitments from limited partners like Advanced Medical Optics Inc., Conexant Systems Inc., Edwards Lifesciences Corp. and Western Digital Technologies Inc. Okapi is a Laguna Beach, Calif.-based firm co-founded by former Domain Associates principal Sharon Stevenson and by Marc Averitt, former director of strategic business development for Intel Corp.’s software and solutions group. www.okapivc.com Saints Capital and Willowridge Inc. have agreed to acquire the entire unquoted portfolio and certain restricted quoted investments of Amerindo Internet Fund.
AXA Private Equity announced several changes to its fund-of-funds team: James Pitt, head of the Charles Moseley and Russell French have decided to retire from Noro-Moseley Partners, which is preparing to raise $200 million for its sixth fund, according to VentureWire. Moseley is the firm’s founder, while French is a general partner who joined in 1985.
Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. has promoted: John Tilson from director to managing director; Michael Schffer from senior associate to vice president; Sean Sullivan from associate to vice president; and Effram Kaplan from associate to senior associate. The middle-market I-bank also has hired Julie Crothers as communications director (previously with Morningstar). Former marketing vice president Wendy Neal has joined Global M&A, a partnership of middle-market I-banks that includes Brown Gibbons Lang. www.bglco.com Kevin Liddy has joined IBM’s venture capital group, after having spent the past eight years as one of two IBM economists. www.ibm.com Allied Waste Industries Inc. (NYSE: AW) announced two changes to its board of directors: David Foley of Blackstone Group will replace J. Tomilson Hill of Blackstone, while Steven Martinez of Apollo Management will replace Leon Black of Apollo. www.alliedwaste.com
|
Interested in placing
your ad above?
Learn How