Exit watch, week of Aug. 11, 2008

Belden buys Trapeze for $133M in cash

Belden (NYSE: BDC) has acquired Trapeze Networks, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based provider of wireless LAN equipment and network management software, for about $133 million in cash. Trapeze had raised just over $100 million in VC funding from Accel Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Oak Investment Partners, Motorola, Castile Ventures and DAG Ventures.

Monster gobbles up Trovix for $72.5M

Internet job search provider Monster has acquired Trovix Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based provider of employment search and matching technologies, for $72.5 million in cash. Trovix had raised about $18.3 million in VC funding since 2006 from 3i Group, Granite Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners.

The acquisition is Monster’s second purchase of a young VC-backed company this year. Affinity Labs Inc., which had raised about $6 million in funding from Mayfield Fund and Trinity Ventures, was bought by Monster for about $60 million in January.

Novera Optics sells for $16M

has acquired Novera Optics Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based provider of fiber-optic access solutions that extend carrier Ethernet services from optical core networks to customer premises. The deal was valued at about $16 million in cash, plus up to $10 million in additional earn-outs over the next 18 months. Novera had raised about $73 million in VC funding since 2000 from Redpoint Ventures, Storm Ventures, KLM Capital Group, KTB Ventures, Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, Octane Capital Management and Saints Ventures.

McAfee acquires Reconnex for $46M

(NYSE: MFE) has agreed to acquire Reconnex, a Mountain View, Calif.-based provider of enterprise data loss prevention solutions. The deal is valued at $46 million in cash, and is expected to close later this quarter. Reconnex had raised about $36 million in VC funding from Levensohn Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Outlook Ventures and August Capital Management.

Clinical Data buys Adenosine

(Nasdaq: CLDA) has acquired Adenosine Therapeutics, a Charlottesville, Va.-based developer of compounds for the treatment of inflammation resulting from organ transplantation and trauma. The deal included a $22 million up-front cash payment, $25.2 million in promissory notes and up to $30 million in milestone-based earn-outs. Adenesine had raised $3.5 million in VC funding in early 2005 from ATEL Ventures and Emerging Technology Partners.

Medicines picks up Curacyte subsidiary

Curacyte AG has sold subsidiary Curacyte Discovery GmbH, which develops a compound for the prevention of blood loss during surgery, to The Medicines Co. (Nasdaq: MDCO). The deal includes a $24 million up-front payment, and additional payments based on the achievement of clinical milestones. Curacyte has raised more than $60 million in VC funding from firms like TVM Capital, AlpInvest Partners and IKB Venture Capital.

Sierra Wireless buys Junxion

(Nasdaq: SWIR) has acquired Junxion, a Seattle-based provider of managed 3G wireless router solutions for enterprise and government customers. No financial terms were disclosed. Junxion has raised a small amount of VC funding from Trilogy Equity Partners.

Google unloads search marketing agency to Publicis

Google Inc., which has acquired more than 50 companies since 2001, turned the tables last week and sold Performics, the search marketing agency that it has owned since last year when it finalized its $3.2 billion acquisition of online advertising company DoubleClick.

Google sold Performics, a 200-person firm based in Chicago, to Publicis Groupe for an undisclosed price.

It has long been speculated that Google would unload Performics over concerns that owning a search marketing business that tries to influence search engine results would cause a conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, Google will likely continue to acquire other marketing companies to help it boost ad sales. Just last month, Google paid $5 million to acquire Omnisio, an Atherton, Calif.-based provider of online video technology.