Exit watch, week of Oct. 6, 2008

SRA acquires Era

SRA International Inc. (NYSE: SRX) has acquired Era Corp., a Reston, Va.-based provider of surveillance technologies for the air traffic management, airport operations, military and security markets. No financial terms were disclosed. Era had raised more than $10 million in VC funding from sole institutional investor Boulder Ventures. The company also raised acquisition financing from Mezzanine Management.

Boulder Ventures says that the firm realized more than 4x its total investment in selling Era to SRA. Boulder Ventures, with offices in Maryland and Colorado, made its initial investment in August 2004 and led follow-on rounds in 2006 and 2007.

HP buys LeftHand for $360M

Hewlett-Packard Co. last week agreed to acquire Boulder, Colo.-based data-storage company LeftHand Networks Inc. for $360 million in cash. LeftHand Networks was founded by CEO Bill Chambers in 1999. The company raised about $85 million in venture funding in several rounds from Boulder Ventures, Sprout Group, Sequel Venture Partners, Garage Technology Ventures, New World Ventures, Vista Ventures and Valhalla Partners.

Nokia hears call to buy OZ

Nokia has agreed to acquire OZ Communications, a Montreal, Quebec-based provider of consumer mobile messaging solutions. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close later this year. OZ Communications has raised about $61 million in VC funding from Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Fonds de Solidarite and VantagePoint Venture Partners.

Intersil scoops up Kenet

Intersil Corp. (Nasdaq: ISIL) has agreed to acquire Kenet Inc., a Woburn , Mass.-based fabless maker of ultra-low power analog-to-digital converters. No financial terms were disclosed. Kenet has raised about $25 million in VC funding since 2002 from Venrock, Oak Investment Partners, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Kopin Corp.

Estée Lauder buys skin care drug company

Estée Lauder Cos. has acquired AGI Dermatics, a Freeport, N.Y.-based drug company developing treatments for skin repair. No financial terms were disclosed. AGI had raised about $9 million in VC funding from Spring Mountain Capital and Trevi Health Ventures.