Exit watch, week of Jan. 21, 2008

Ticketmaster buys TicketsNow, Paciolan

, a unit of IAC/Interactive Corp., has agreed to buy TicketsNow Inc. for about $295 million. TicketsNow is a Crystal Lake, Ill.-based online ticket reseller that has raised more than $75 million in funding from such firms as Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Adams Street Partners, Portage Venture Partners, C&B Capital and New World Ventures. A source tells peHUB (an online publication affiliated with PE Week) that eBay took a very close look” at TicketsNow and “participated in the bidding process” to buy the company. Last year, eBay bought rival ticket reseller StubHub for $310 million.

Separately, Ticketmaster last week announced that it has completed its acquisition of Paciolan Inc., an Irvine, Calif.-based provider of online ticketing software for live entertainment venues. No financial terms were disclosed. Paciolan had raised more than $35 million in VC funding from such firms as Marwit Capital, Argentum Group, Technology Crossover Ventures and Far West Capital Group.

Arasor buys Novalux

Arasor International Ltd. has acquired Novalux Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based maker of a vertical external cavity-surface emitting laser technology. The deal is valued at $7 million in Arasor stock, plus the assumption of $13 million in debt. Novalux had raised nearly $200 million in VC funding since 1998, including a $108 million Series C round in 2000 at a $509 million post-money valuation from Lamoreaux Partners, Vanguard Ventures, Pantheon Ventures, Intel Capital, TeleSoft Partners, DynaFund Ventures, MSD Capital and Cisco Systems. A bridge loan in the middle of last year valued Novalux at about $28 million. Other company backers have also included Crescendo Ventures, Morgan Stanley Venture Partners, Tredegar Investments and Unaxis.

CellzDirect sells for $57M

(Nasdaq: IVGN) has agreed to acquire CellzDirect Inc., a Durham, N.C.-based provider of hepatocyte-based cell products and related services used in the testing of new drugs. The deal is valued at $57 million in cash, and is expected to close later this quarter. CellzDirect, which reported about $18 million in sales last year, has raised about $13 million in VC funding between 2002 and 2006 from such firms as Technology Funding, Solstice Capital, Valley Ventures, Village Ventures and Grayhawk Venture Partners.

Aruba acquires Airwave

Aruba Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: ARUN) has agreed to acquire Airwave Wireless Inc., a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of WLAN management software for configurable networks. The deal is valued at $37 million in cash and stock. Airwave had raised VC funding from Ignition Partners, Idealab and Westbury Equity Partners.

Metavante scoops up Nomad

(NYSE: MV) has acquired Nomad Payments Ltd., a London–based provider of electronic payment software and systems for the banking sector. The deal was valued at about $58 million. Nomad had raised at least $10 million in VC funding from Quester Capital Management, Advent Venture Partners and Foresight Group.

Rocket buys Arkivio

, a Boston-based maker of enterprise infrastructure products, has acquired the assets of Arkivio Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based provider of storage software. No financial terms were disclosed. Arkivio had raised $15 million since 2001 from such firms as Globespan Capital Partners, Voyager Capital and Valence Capital Management.

Philippines company buys DevZuz

, a Philippines-based software engineering services firm, has acquired DevZuz, a Marina Del Rey, Calif.-based developer of developer of delivery platforms that link enterprise businesses to application development projects and processes. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal. DevZuz had raised about $9.25 million in funding from Mission Ventures and Redpoint Ventures. Both firms are expected to become shareholders in Exist Global.