Exit watch, week of Nov. 19, 2007

Covidien buys Scandius

Covidien Ltd. (NYSE: COV) has acquired Scandius Biomedical Inc., a Littleton, Mass.-based developer of devices for sports-related surgeries. No financial terms were disclosed. Scandius had raised more than $13 million in VC funding since 2002 from such firms as KBL Healthcare Ventures, NewSpring Capital, Stockton Ventures and Ivy Capital Partners. This is the first acquisition for Covidien, which spun off from Tyco International in June.

WhiteFence acquires GetConnected

WhiteFence, a Houston, Texas-based online comparison shopping site for residential home services, has acquired the IP rights and domain name of GetConnected Inc., a Boston-based operator of an ecommerce and integration platform services for retail merchants, such as Best Buy, Circuit City and Radio Shack. No financial terms were disclosed. GetConnected had raised about $25 million from Vantage Partners, VantagePoint Venture Partners, Atlas Venture and Asset Management Company Venture Capital. WhiteFence has raised about $29 million in VC funding from Adams Street Partners and Internet Capital Group.

Vertical Alliance just the ticket for Flash Seats

Cleveland-based Ticket reseller Flash Seats has acquired Vertical Alliance Inc., a Dallas-based ticket seller and ecommerce service provider, for an undisclosed price. Vertical Alliance, whose clients include the Houston Rockets, has raised about $6.6 million in venture funding from Brooks Capital Group and RAF NetVentures.

TechTarget acquires KnowledgeStorm

TechTarget Inc. (Nasdaq: TTGT) has acquired KnowledgeStorm Inc., an Alpharetta, Ga.-based provider of qualified leads for IT vendors. The deal is valued at about $58 million, including $52 million in cash and about 360,000 shares of unregistered TechTarget common stock. KnowledgeStorm had raised more than $16 million in VC funding since 1999 from such firms as Apex Venture Partners, LiveOak Equity Partners, Sterling Partners, Imlay Investments, Gefinor Ventures and Total Technology Ventures.

Reflexis scoops up enfoTrust

Reflexis Systems Inc., a provider of retail management software, has agreed to buy enfoTrust Networks Inc., a Kennesaw, Ga.-based provider of managed hosting vendor services. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. EnfoTrust, which was founded in 1998, had raised $23 million in funding, including a $13 million round in 2001 from Bonaventure Capital with a post-money valuation of $58 million.

EA gives OK on acquisitions

Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: ERTS) has received FTC clearance to acquire gaming companies BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios from private equity firm Elevation Partners, for up to $620 million in cash. EA also will issue up to $155 million in equity to certain BioWare and Pandemic employees. Elevation acquired BioWare and Pandemic in 2005 for “more than $300 million,” and put them under a holding company umbrella called VG Holding Corp. EA CEO John Riccitiello, a co-founder and former partner of Elevation, recused himself from negotiating terms of the deal.