PE Week Wire — Friday, September 9

September 9 2005

Get The PE Week Wire in your inbox each morning! Just send us an email.

Friday Feedback

The sky is gray, the Patriots are back and I’ve got to find some decent clothes for my 4^th wedding anniversary dinner tonight. In other words, it’s time for Friday Feedback.

Last Friday’s column on Hurricane Katrina generated an enormous amount of response, which was mostly broken out into three categories: (1) Right on. (2) Stop Bush-bashing/being unpatriotic. (3) It is the local government’s job to protect people, not the federal government’s job. Let’s take them in order (and then get to that VC working in the Astrodome):

Right On: Joshua writes: “Prior to receiving your email this morning, I wrote my Senator to express almost the exact same sentiments. It’s shameful and embarrassing and I hope that this is a wake up call for our leaders.” Suzanne: “I have found your writing to be a beautiful blend of political savvy, great humor, dogged investigation and, at times, unbridled personal emotion. Your inclusions are pithy — right on the money. Today’s column exemplifies every reason I read PE Week.” Mayer: “I wanted to thank you for your Friday email. Words can’t describe the frustration and embarrassment that I feel watching the situation in New Orleans. Your note, however, struck a chord with its poignancy and sentiment.

Stop Bush-Bashing: Scott writes: “I do not enjoy your frequent political rants and second guessing of decisions by our leaders in this column. I agree that the entire situation in New Orleans is a tragedy. Nonetheless, do you think that John Kerry or a Democratic president would have been able to do anything differently in the current situation? Reading your comments makes it seem like Katrina is another instance of your placing all of our country’s (even the world’s) problems on George Bush. Give me a break.” Neil: “Shame on you for spreading the word of ‘shame’ and referring to the government. I would think a capitalist like you would realize that it is not the government’s fault… It’s the people stupid. Now, why not just keep your and everyone else’s spirits up by being positive and hopeful instead of whiney and trivial.

Dan: “With everything unfolding in New Orleans, many media types have used this as an opportunity to trash talk the president, and I am very surprised that you would get in the middle of this. A number of people in this country absolutely despise the current administration, and will try to pin any sort of bad press on them.T his is politics at its worst, you are not trying to help the situation in LA, you are slinging crap just like every other blow heart [sic] out there… There is no doubt that someone screwed up – levies aren’t strong enough, evac plan is weak, guns are not in the Walmart safe, etc. Now the government is dealing with the aftereffects – FEMA is doing what they do, the governor has the LA National Guard at his [sic] disposal. For the rest of us, it is not time to play the blame game, it is time for American solidarity – opening our wallets, our homes, etc. People are dying in New Orleans and all Sullivan can do to help them is say that it is Bush’s fault – what a patriot.”

Constitutional Argument: Vito writes: “I didn’t want to write this email because I don’t want anyone to think I am indifferent to the suffering in the Gulf Coast [but] I am writing this email because I find myself annoyed at the response and the direction of blame going on here… Look it up, the federal gov’t was made purposefully weak on domestic issues for the sake of our civil liberties. The task of running the domestic side of things falls to our governors, not our president. Look at education, crime, etc… It’s all in the hands of the states but we blame the feds… I don’t blame FEMA or Bush for what’s going in down south. I blame the governors and the mayors letting chaos happen.

Note: Very surprised to hear this last argument. It is certainly true from a constitutional perspective, but the Founding Fathers never envisioned a Dep’t of Homeland Security, or necessarily a president whose last campaign revolved around the idea of “I’ll keep you safer than the other guy.” Again, I certainly believe that the NOLA tragedy should be pinned on ALL levels of government, including inept management by Mayor Nagin (school buses?), Gov. Blanco (coordination?) and Pres. Bush (pathetic patronage at FEMA). However, the feds asked for the greatest responsibility when they created a Dept. of Homeland Defense. You can’t ask for responsibility, receive it and then shirk it at a time of crisis.

Finally, VC Evan, who spent last Friday at the Astrodome: “What do you say to someone who has lost everything? As an early volunteer physician yesterday at the Astrodome, I wrestled with this question. Unable to help my colleagues stuck in New Orleans, the next best assistance I could provide was at the Astrodome. Nothing in my medical training prepared me for the scale of what I witnessed. While the sickest patients had been triaged by medical personnel in New Orleans and before they were processed into the Astrodome, on the floor at our medical clinic we were presented with women going into labor, patients that had not had dialysis or insulin in days, patients with infections and unknown bites from wading through the water, and enough patients with chest pain and other acute illness that we had a steady flow of ambulances nearby. I asked one pregnant lady with very swollen legs to elevate her feet with a pillow when lying on her cot. She told me she slept on the concrete the night before. After a fruitless search for a cot, I asked that she at least put a pillow under her legs, to which she replied there are not pillows either.

Another victim, an elderly man, was found incoherent and being attended to by a young boy who lived next to him in New Orleans. When asked where the family was of both victims, the boy told me that they all came together to Houston, but lost each other a day earlier within the masses of people in the arena and had not been able to find each other ever since. Even if victims were fortunate enough to arrive with family, once processed, many lost track of parents and children among the tens of thousands at the dome.

Perhaps the most difficult part of caring for the victims is the inability to treat their deeper wounds—the ones that a bandage and medications can’t repair. Many people were still stunned by the events of the prior days. I saw volunteers holding a crying older woman, consoling her in their arms. As I looked into the children’s eyes I saw their fear and sadness, images that have been seen across the nation. I watched a young mom search desperately though the piles of donated clothes for shoes for her kids—long barefoot since losing their shoes while wading through the water. All had harrowing stories of helicopters, events at the Superdome, and above all else desire to find family members—whether lost in the dome, at another shelter in the region, or still stuck in New Orleans.

Hope came later in the day with word that buses and troops were finally evacuating the rest of the city and more organized relief efforts being provided within Houston to all Hurricane victims. Perhaps some of the best medicine given was the reassurance and hope that things are going to get better. Houston is a city that struggles to meet the healthcare and social needs of the population. We have been able to build three new stadiums but have one of the highest uninsured populations in the country. I found particular irony in the fact that the stadiums have now become the homes and hospitals for so many thousands in need.

While I spend my days working as a healthcare venture capitalist on the business side of medicine, yesterday reminded me that a family physician is who I am and venture capital is just what I do.

Top Three

Replidyne Inc., a Louisville, Colo.-based drug company focused on anti-infectives, has raised $62.5 million in Series D funding. New backers include Duquesne Capital Management, Healthcare Investment Partners and MDS Life Sciences, while return backers include HealthCare Ventures, TPG Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures, Perseus-Soros BioPharmaceutical Fund, Sequel Venture Partners, Temasek Holdings and Quintiles Transnational. Aquilo Partners served as exclusive placement agent for Replidyne, which has raised over $122 million in total VC funding since its 2000 inception. www.replidyne.com

Amicus Therapeutics Inc., a Cranbury, N.J.-based drug company focused on genetic diseases like Fabry disease, has raised $55 million in Series C funding. Quaker BioVentures led the deal, and was joined by Palo Alto Investors, the Garden State Life Sciences Venture Fund and return backers Canaan Partners, CHL Medical Partners, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Prospect Venture Partners and Radius Ventures. The company has raised $75 million in total VC funding since its 2002 inception, including an $18 million Series B deal in May 2004 at a post-money valuation of approximately $26.5 million. www.amicustherapeutics.com

Audax Group of Boston has closed its second private equity fund with $700 million in capital commitments, and will maintain its focus on leveraged control acquisitions of middle-market companies. Returning limited partners include Harvard Management Co., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System, Commonfund Capital and FLAG Capital Management. New LPs include GIC Special Investment Pte Ltd., University of Virginia Investment Management Co., The Rockefeller Foundation and the State Retirement and Pension System of Maryland. ww.audaxgroup.com

VC Deals

MetaCarta Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based provider of geographic business intelligence solutions, has raised around $10 million in Series C funding. FA Technology Ventures and Hunt Ventures co-led the deal, and were joined by return backers Sevin Rosen Funds, Solstice Capital, In-Q-Tel, Chisholm Private Capital and ChevronTexaco. The company has raised over $17 million in total VC funding since its 1999 inception. www.metacarta.com

Allyes Information Technology Co. Ltd., a China-based provider on online marketing solutions, has raised $30 million in venture capital funding from Oak Investment Partners and IDG Technology Venture Investment, according to The Shanghai Daily. www.allyes.com

Global Silicon Ltd., a UK-based supplier of integrated circuit solutions for consumer electronics, has raised $10 million in new venture capital funding. Quester Capital Management led the deal, and was joined by Celtic House Ventures and return backer MTI Partners. FirstCapital advised Global Silicon on the deal. www.global-silicon.com

Rawflow Ltd., a UK-based provider of P2P streaming software, has raised $4 million in first-round funding from Benchmark Capital Europe. FirstCapital advised Rawflow on the deal. www.rawflow.com

OnRequest Images Inc., a Seattle-based provider of custom imagery services, has raised $8 million in second-round funding. Frazier Technology Ventures led the deal, and was joined by return backer Maveron. The company has raised $12 million in total VC funding since its 2003 inception. www.onrequestimages.com

NemeriX SA, a Switzerland-based provider of GPS chipsets, has raised 25 million euros in Series B funding. Oak Investment Partners and Cadence Design Systems came in as new investors, while return backers included Atila Ventures, Auriga Partners, PolyTechnos Venture Partners and VI Partners. www.nemerix.com

Permabit Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based provider of electronic archiving solutions, has raised $12 million in Series C funding led by return backer Baker Capital. www.permabit.com

Quadriserv Inc., a New York-based startup provider of market data solutions to the securities lending industry, is raising $10 million in a VC funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, according to a regulatory filing. www.quadriserv.com

Jingle Networks Inc., a Franklin, Mich.-based provider of advertising solutions, has raised $400,000 in Series A funding, according to a regulatory filing. Participants included Lead Dog Ventures and First Round Capital. www.jinglenetworks.com

RPath Inc., a Cary, N.C.-based software company, has raised $6.4 million in Series A funding, according to a regulatory filing. Participants included North Bridge Venture Partners and General Catalyst Partners.

Bioscan Inc. of Washington, D.C. has raised $1 million in bridge financing from Brook Venture Partners. Bioscan produces detection and measurement products and automated chemistry systems used in clinical nuclear medicine and pre-clinical life science research.www.bioscan.com www.brookventure.com

AztecAmerica Financial Services Group Inc., a Berwyn, Ill.-based bank focused on Hispanics living in the Greater Chicago area, has closed on a $12.8 million first-round private equity infusion from unnamed backers. It soon plans to launch a second-round targeted at $25 million. Ramirez & Co. is advising AztecAmerica on both deals. www.aztecamerica.com

Buyout Deals

KPS Special Situations Fund has completed its acquisition of automotive forging companies Jernberg Industries, Iron Mountain Industries and related entities. The transaction was done with U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval, and includes: $23 million of new equity, $8 million of interim financing, three collective bargaining agreements with the United Steelworkers of America, 30 customer agreements and a new $37 million senior lending facility with LaSalle Bank. The combined entities now will operate under a newly-formed company named Hephaestus Holdings Inc. www.kpsfund.com

AM Media Holdings LLC, an affiliate of ACON Investments LLC, has agreed to acquire two WB-affiliated television stations from Granite Broadcasting Corp. (OTC BB: GBTVK). The total deal – which actually is two separate agreements — is valued at $180 million, including $177.5 million in cash and $2.5 million of equity in AM Media Holdings. It is expected to close next quarter. The stations being sold are KBWB in San Francisco and WDWB in Detroit. www.granitetv.com

Albertson’s Inc. (NYSE: ABS) has retained Goldman Sachs and Blackstone Group to explore strategic options that could include a sale of all, or part, of the company. www.albertsons.com

NH Hoteles SA of Spain saw its share price rise yesterday amid speculation that The Carlyle Group may be viewing the hotel chain as an acquisition target, in concert with its reported interest in Grupo Occidental Hoteles.

PE-Backed IPOs

Horizon Lines Inc., a Charlotte, N.C. container shipping company, has set its proposed IPO terms to around 15.63 million common shares being offered at between $15 and $17 per share. It plans to trade on the NYSE under proposed ticker symbol HRZ, with Goldman Sachs and UBS serving as lead underwriters. Castle Harlan acquired Horizon Lines last July from The Carlyle Group, in a transaction valued at $663.3 million. Carlyle had taken control from CSX Corp. as part of a February 2003 recapitalization. www.horizon-lines.com

VistaPrint Ltd., a Bermuda-based holding company for Lexington, Mass.-based graphic design and printing services provider VistaPrint USA Inc., has set its proposed IPO terms to around 10.05 million common shares being offered at between $9 and $11 per share. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol VPRT, with Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns serving as lead underwriters. VistaPrint has raised around $76 million in total VC funding since its 1995 inception, with significant shareholders including Highland Capital Partners, HarbourVest Partners, SPEF Ventures, Sofinnova Partners and Window to Wall Street Inc. www.vistaprint.com

Eutelsat SA, a France-based satellite company, is planning a public flotation by late next year that would value the company at between 2 billion euros and 3 billion euros. Shareholders include Texas Pacific Group, Spectrum Equity Investors, GS Capital Partners, Cinven abnd Eurazeo. www.eutelsat.com

PE-Backed M&A

Apprise Media LLC, a New York-based niche media company, has acquired Y-Visionary LP, an Orange, Calif.–based publisher of nine magazines focused on the automotive aftermarket, outdoor sports and shelter segments. No financial terms were disclosed. Apprise Media is backed by Spectrum Equity Investors. www.apprisemedia.com www.yvisionary.com

JDS Uniphase Corp. (Nasdaq: JDSU) has agreed to acquire Agility Communications Inc., a Santa Barbara, Calif.–based provider of widely-tunable laser solutions for optical networks. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close by year’s end. Agility has raised over $200 million in total VC funding since its 1998 inception, including a $70 million Series C infusion in 2001 at a post-money valuation of approximately $480 million, and a $91 million Series D infusion in 2002 at a post-money valuation of approximately $255 million. Shareholders include GM Capital Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, Worldview Technology Partners, U.S. Venture Partners, Tellabs, Siemens Venture Capital, Nissho Electronics Corp., Granite Global Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners, Ciena, Alliance Select Investors, Mitsubishi and London Pacific Assurance Ltd. www.jdsu.com www.agility.com

Firm News

Blue Point Capital Partners is looking to raise upwards of $500 million for its second fund, according to a regulatory filing. It’s previous fund was capped at $410 million in 2001. www.bluepointcapital.com

Sigma Partners has closed its seventh fund with $400 million in committed capital, as first reported by VentureWire.

The Aurora Funds of Durham, N.C. has held a $50 million first close on its fifth fund, which will focus on early-stage life sciences and information technology companies. The firm also promoted Jan Bouten to the role of senior associate. www.aurorafunds.com

Lexington Partners is raising upwards of $3 billion for its sixth general secondaries fund, according to a regulatory filing. www.lexingtonpartners.com

Versant Ventures soon will begin raising its third fund with a $400 million target, according to VentureWire. www.versantventures.com

Human Resources

Harvard Management Co. lost its top pick to succeed Jack Meyer as CEO, when Bain Capital managing director Mark Nunnelly opted not to take the job, according to The Boston Globe. Meyer will leave at the end of this month to launch a new asset management firm.

Jing Huang has agreed to join Bain Capital to head up a new Beijing-based operation named Bain Capital China, according to Private Equity Insider. He previously was a managing director with SAIF Ventures, which recently closed a new $630 million fund.

Paul Bialek, former CFO of RealNetworks, has joined Frazier Technology Ventures as a general partner, according to multiple press reports. www.fraziertechnology.com

Claude Charles, former chairman of Equinox Group Holdings, and Johnson Tan, a partner with IB Capital, have joined the board of Pacific Internet Ltd. (Nasdaq: PCNTF). www.pacnet.com

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

The Big One

I have a biotech bias. If given the opportunity to cover one of two startups of equal financial wherewithal and innovation, I’ll typically choose the one trying to cure cancer over the one trying to speed up my Internet connection. Of course, I’ve never actually written about a company trying to cure cancer… until today.

That company is OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc., which yesterday announced that it had raised $13.9 million in Series A funding from Laterell Venture Partners (lead), U.S. Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures and The Vertical Group. It actually secured around $18 million in Series A commitments last year, held an initial close on $5.88 million and called down about $8 million more in the past couple of weeks. But back to the matter of curing cancer…

For decades, oncologists have hypothesized that cancer contained some sort of cellular growth mechanism (a.k.a. “germ cell”), but it had never been identified until some Stanford University researchers discovered some self-renewing cells in leukemia a few years back. They called them “cancer stem cells,” because a very small number can renew indefinitely in order to create something new (albeit cancer instead of blood or an organ). This research was followed up by a pair of University of Michigan scientists who also found cancer stem cells in solid tumors, and learned that they were largely resistant to traditional chemotherapy. In other words, they figured out why someone can have breast cancer, get chemo, seem cancer-free and then have the same cancer again two years later.

OncoMed is based on the University of Michigan research, which also includes proprietary technology has helped identify that could let it identify and target the actual cancer stem cells. To date, the company has identified 50 cell surface antigens over-expressed on the cancer stem cells, and soon will begin work on both antibodies and small molecule drugs to target/kill the cells. If successful, you might literally be able to take a pill to stop the growth of breast cancer or brain cancer (with corresponding chemotherapy or surgery to remove the existing tumor). It won’t quite be like picking up some Tylenol Stomach Cancer at Walgreens, but nonetheless could be an enormous therapeutic breakthrough in oncology.

There are, however, some caveats. First, the company would likely be horrified to hear me publicly suggest that it could cure cancer (such big expectations come with that Holy Grail sort of phrase). Moreover, this is a very long-term process. An oncologist working with stem cells tells me that a best-case scenario for R&D and commercialization of such a drug would be at least five years, and that the drug would only target one type of cancer. Jim Woody, CEO of OncoMed, seems to concur, suggesting that the company’s lead candidates wouldn’t be ready to enter Phase II clinical trials for at least two years, after which there would be Phase III trials, FDA approvals, etc. And, again, this is best-case scenario, which would have to include a big pharma partner.

The main problems with such waiting are (A) Could someone else beat them to the punch; and (B) How long can VC backers afford to stick around? I’m not so concerned about A, since any big pharma very interested in this technology likely would just try to buy OncoMed. Question B, however, could be a bit dicier if the best-case scenario doesn’t work out. All of the VCs currently are gung-ho and very excited, but there obviously are huge timing risks with an early-stage drug discovery company, based on the 10-year lifecycle of most VC funds. If a fund comes up on year nine and there still isn’t a product…

Nonetheless, this may just be the most exciting company I’ve come across in five years of covering startups and the investors who love them. And, if it’s successful, it will be the most important as well.

Top Three

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) has agreed to acquire IGN Entertainment Inc., a Brisbane, Calif.-based provider of community-based Internet media and services for video gaming, for approximately $650 million in cash. IGN currently is in registration for a $200 million IPO, and had been a public company until it was taken private in a 2003 buyout led by Great Hill Partners. Great Hill holds a 40.3% pre-IPO stake, while other significant shareholders include Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. (23.8%) and Banc of America Capital Investors (10.3%). www.newscorp.com www.ign.com

Epsilon, a business unit of Alliance Data Systems Corp. (NYSE: ADS) has agreed to acquire Bigfoot Interactive Inc., a New York-based provider of email communications and marketing automation solutions, for $120 million. Bigfoot has raised over $40 million in VC funding since its 1997 inception, from firms like JPMorgan Partners, Mitsui & Co., Constellation Ventures and Hudson Venture Partners. www.epsilon.com www.bigfoot.com

EBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) is in talks to acquire Luxembourg-based P2P telephony company Skype Technologies SA for between $2 billion to $3 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. Earlier reports focused on Yahoo or Microsoft as a possible buyers for Skype, which has raised VC funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Bessemer Venture Partners and Index Ventures.

VC Deals

Direct Flow Medical Inc., a Santa Rosa, Calif.-based developer of an aortic tissue valve prosthesis, has raised $8.45 million in Series A funding. New Leaf Venture Partners and Spray Venture Partners co-led the deal, and were joined by existing shareholder EDF Ventures. www.directflowmedical.com

Kotura Inc., a Monterey Park, Calif.-based provider of silicon photonic products, has raised $13 million in Series 2 funding. GF Private Equity Group led the deal, and was joined by Viterbi Group and return backers ComVentures and ARCH Venture Partners. Kotura has raised $24 million in total VC funding since being formed out of the 2003 merger of Arroyo Optics and LightCross. www.kotura.com

Partech International and Canaan Partners have sponsored a spinout of Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Vue Technology Inc. (f.k.a. Intelligent Systems) from MeadWestvaco’s New Ventures Group. The deal results in Partech, Canaan and MeadWestvaco all holding board seats with Vue, which focuses on RF networking and item-level RFID solutions. www.vuetechnology.com

Buyout Deals

J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC has agreed to buy Crump Group Inc., the U.S.-based wholesale broking operation of Marsh Inc., a unit of Marsh & McLennan Cos. (NYSE: MMC). No financial terms were disclosed. Banc of America Securities served as financial advisor to Marsh, while Lazard served in a similar capacity for J.C. Flowers. www.marsh.com

Ford Motor Co. is leaning toward selling its Hertz Corp. car rental business to a private equity group that includes Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Carlyle Group and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity, according to The Wall Street Journal. A decision could be made within the next day, with the sale expected to be valued at between $5.5 billion and $6 billion (plus the assumption of more than $10 billion in debt). An alternate bid reportedly has been submitted by a consortium that includes Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners. www.hertz.com

Permira, CVC Capital Partners and PAI Partners have received the 75% shareholder approval they needed for their acquisition of Spain-based clothing retailer Cortefiel SA.

Bob Guccione Jr., founder of Spin and Gear magazines, has teamed with two unnamed private equity firms to buy Discover magazine from The Walt Disney Co. for an undisclosed amount. www.discover.com

AmeriCast Technologies Inc., a maker of steel and iron sand castings, machined components and assemblies, has completed a $95 million recapitalization. Proceeds went to refinance the company’s debt, fund a $26.1 million distribution to shareholders and provide $25 million to fund future acquisitions. AmeriCast was formed in December 2003 by KPS Special Situations Fund, in order to purchase certain assets of Atchison Casting Corp. out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy for approximately $40 million (plus $15 million of new equity capital). www.americasttech.com

First Atlantic Capital has agreed to buy Precision Parts International from Morgenthaler Partners. No financial terms were disclosed. Precision Parts is a Rochester Hills, Mich.-based manufacturer of high-precision metal components and subassemblies, and was originally formed as an acquisition platform by Morgenthaler. www.firstatlanticcapital.com www.morgenthaler.com

PE-Backed IPOs

PE-Backed M&A

OfficeTiger Inc., a New York-based provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions, has agreed to acquire MortgageRamp Inc., an Atlanta–based provider of BPO and technology solutions for the global real estate finance industry. No financial terms were disclosed. OfficeTiger is a portfolio company of Francisco Partners, while MortgageRamp has raised VC funding from such firms as Hewlitt-Packard, DB Investor, Fannie Mae, Allied Capital, GMAC Commercial Mortgage and VerticalNet. www.officetiger.com

Firm News

Northwest Capital Appreciation of Seattle will begin raising its third fund early next year, with a $250 million target capitalization. The firm also has made several personnel additions, including: John Jacobs, partner, formerly managing partner of Capital Run; Cameron Hewes, principal, formerly with Capital Run; Ryan Secrist, vice president, formerly with Capital Run; Erik Tolzmann, associate, previously with Capital Run; and George Vojta, senior operating partner for corporate governance and LP relations, former vice chairman of Bankers Trust. www.nwcap.com

Red River Capital has launched as a Rock Rapids, Iowa-based venture firm focused on small businesses in the Rock Rapids area. It is initially capitalized with $500,000 from the Minnesota Investment Network and local angel and institutional backers. www.rockrivercapital.com

Cooley Godward LLP has opened an office in Washington, D.C. www.cooley.com

Human Resources

Philip Kemp has joined Helix Associates Ltd. as a managing director, after previously having been responsible for investor relations with Doughty Hanson & Co. Helix is a UK-based private equity fund placement agency owned by Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF). www.helix-associates.com

Debra Anderson has agreed to join Blackstone Group as a managing director in the firm’s corporate debt group. She will be charged with establishing Blackstone’s European presence as a manager of non-investment grade assets issued by European companies. She most recently served as the leveraged loan portfolio manager for Intermediate Capital Group PLC. www.blackstone.com

Eugene Lee has joined the Hong Kong office of Latham & Watkins LLP as of counsel in the corporate department. He will focus primarily on the capital markets and mergers and acquisitions. He previously worked in both Hong Kong and Singapore with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. www.lw.com

Frederick Roth has agreed to join 3i Group’s European buyouts team as a senior director, effective January 1, according to PrivateEquityOnline. He will be based in Frankfurt, and previously worked for Permira. www.3i.com

Gabrielle Guttman has joined Southridge Capital Management as vice president of business development and marketing. www.southridgecapital.com

Michael Baldinger has joined Credit Suisse Asset Management as head of U.S. Sales. He previously was a managing director in the institutional equities sales group of Bear Stearns & Co. www.csam.com

David Thomas, managing director of Intel Capital Latin America, has been elected chair of the Latin American Venture Capital Association’s board of directors. He succeeds Richard Frank, CEO of Darby Overseas, who has completed his term. www.lavca.org

Howard Morgan, a partner in First Round Capital and an Idealab director, has been elected chairman of the Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc. (AMEX: FEP) board of directors. www.franklin.com

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7

Just Linking Around

No real column today, as the news section took up my entire morning (38 items, which may be a new record). But so as not to leave you completely empty-handed, a couple of quick links:

*** Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures decries style drift. I’ve complained about this trend for a while, particularly among “early-stage” VCs in Massachusetts, who spent 2002-2004 drifting father and farther downstream. I keep hearing that the situation is better in 2005 (from both VCs and entrepreneurs), but the numbers haven’t yet caught up. In fact, they’re getting worse. In Massachusetts, for example, 31.3% of all VC deals done in 2004 were either seed-stage or early-stage, according to the MoneyTree Survey. As of yesterday, however, the 2005 percentage is just 26.4 percent. It’s even worse in California, where the percentage has dropped from 32.11% in 2004 to 16.43% in 2005. At some point, this lack of early-stage backing is going to disrupt deal-flow for the now-saturated expansion-stage and later-stage markets.

*** Brad Feld of Mobius VC on why he, a man, serves as chair of the National Center for Women & Information Technology.

*** Jeff Clavier of SoftTech Venture Consulting on why it’s important to keep a close eye on your company’s ads (scroll down to second item).

Top Three

JPMorgan Partners Asia has closed its second fund with $1.575 billion in capital commitments. The fund – named Asia Opportunity Fund II – will back leveraged buyouts of medium-to-large companies in the Asia Pacific region, beginning in November. It had been marketed with a $1.2 billion target capitalization. www.jpmorgan.com

Lefthand Networks Inc., a Boulder, Colo.-based provider of storage area network solutions, has raised $25 million in Series C funding. Valhalla Partners led the deal, and was joined by JPMorgan Chase and return backers like Sequel Venture Partners, Sprout Group, Garage Technology Ventures, Ironside Ventures, Portage Venture Partners and Boulder Ventures. The company has raised $75 million in total VC funding since its 1999 inception. www.lefthandnetworks.com

Advent International has agreed to acquire Nuevo Banco Comercial SA, Uruguay’s largest commercial bank, from the Uruguayan government. The deal is valued at $167 million, and also includes participation from Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, the Netherlands Development Finance Co. and DEG. www.adventinternational.com

VC Deals

OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based drug company focused on self-renewing cancer cells, has raised $13.9 million in Series A funding. Backers include Latterell Venture Partners, US Venture Partners (USVP), Morgenthaler Ventures and The Vertical Group. www.oncomed.com

Creditex Inc., a New York-based provider of electronic execution services in the credit derivatives market, has raised $57.34 million in a Series D funding round led by TA Associates. www.ta.com www.creditex.com

Shellcase Ltd., a Jerusalem-based provider of electronic product miniaturization technologies, has raised $19.4 million in new VC funding. GlenRock Israel led the deal, and was joined by the Infinity Venture Capital Fund, China Singapore Venture Capital and entities affiliated with Shrem Fudim Kelner Technologies, including the Korea Global IT Fund and Platinum Neurone Ventures. VentureWire is referring to the deal as Series B-1 recap funding. www.shellcase.com

Akoya Inc., a Peoria, Ill.-based provider of business intelligence software, has raised $1.5 million in additional Series A funding. Participants included Village Ventures, Spring Mill Ventures and Golden Angels Network. The round is now closed with more than $2.5 million, and also includes Arch Development Partners, Caterpillar and Tri-County Venture Capital Fund. www.akoyainc.com

EnterpriseDB Corp., an Edison, N.J.-based enterprise database company, has raised around $7 million in Series A funding co-led by Charles River Ventures and Valhalla Partners. www.enterprisedb.com

Agoura Technologies, a Sacramento, Calif.-based developer of nanotech-based optical films, has received around $1 million in Series A funding from American River Ventures.

Buyout Deals

LightYear Capital has agreed to sell Kepler Equities SA to Landskanki Islands HF of Iceland for approximately 94 million euros. The deal is expected to close next month. Kepler Equities is a pan-European brokerage and independent equities research company acquired by LightYear in 2003 from Julius Baer Group. www.kepler-equities.com

Dresser Inc. (NYSE: DRC) has agreed to sell the assets of its Dresser Instruments business to KPS Special Situations Fund. No pricing terms were disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close next month. Dresser Instruments manufactures a variety of pressure gauges, transducers, transmitters, pressure and temperature switches and other devices. www.dresser.com

Close Brothers Private Equity has sponsored a Gbp22 million management buyout of IDIS Ltd., a UK-based importer and distributor of unlicensed pharmaceuticals. www.idispharma.com

Bridgepoint has acquired a majority stake in Swiss Caps, a Switzerland-based contract manufacturer of capsules and tablets for the health, pharmaceutical and nutritional supplement markets. No financial terms have been disclosed. Last year, Swiss Caps had net sales of approximately 142 million euros. www.bridgepoint-capital.com www.swisscaps.com

3i Group has received European Commission approval for its proposed buyout of Belgian bagging handling company Aviapartner. www.3i.com

CVC Capital Partners has received European Commission approval for its proposed buyout of Ruhrgas Industries GmbH, an Essen, Germany-based maker of gas meters, electricity meters, water meters and furnaces, from E.On. The deal is valued at approximately 1.5 billion euros.

The Carlyle Group and Prudential can move forward with its $400 million acquisition of a 25% stake in China Pacific Life Insurance (CPLI), after the directors of state-owned China Pacific Insurance Group (parent of CPLI) yesterday voted in favor of the deal.

Brockway Moran & Partners has acquired GED Integrated Solutions Inc. from Morgenthaler Partners. No financial terms were disclosed. GED had been owned by Morgenthaler since 2000, and is a Twinsburg, Ohio-based manufacturer of equipment, system solutions and services for the residential window and door industry. www.brockwaymoran.com www.gedusa.com

The Carlyle Group has agreed to acquire children’s car-seat maker Britax Childcare from Britax International Group for approximately Gbp230 million. The deal is expected to close by mid-October. Royal Bank of Scotland ran the auction, which was reported to have included bids from 3i Group, PPM Capital and ABN Amro Capital. www.carlyle.com

Rexam PLC has acquired Delta Plastics Inc. for approximately $154 million, including repayment of borrowings and the redemption of preferred shares. Delta Plastics is a Hot Springs, Ark.-based maiker of plastic injection-molded jars and closures. Its majority shareholder was Stonebridge Partners. www.rexam.com

Questor Management Co. has completed its sale of Santa Ana, Calif.-based freight forwarder and logistics service provider GeoLogistics Corp. to Kuwait-based PWC Logistics. The deal was valued at approximately $454 million on a debt-free basis, with GeoLogistics senior management remaining in place. www.geo-logistics.com www.pwclogistics.com

The Carlyle Group reportedly has agreed to sell Spain-based animal feed company Saprogal SA to Mercapital Servicos Financieros for approximately 155 million euros. www.carlyle.com www.saprogal.com

Investcorp has agreed to acquire Almatis Group from Rhone Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Private Capital. No financial terms were disclosed, although The Deal is reporting a $900 million price tag. Almatis is a Leetsdale, Pa.-based maker of specialty alumina materials, and was acquired by Rhone and Ontario Teachers’ in 2004. www.almatis.com

PE-Backed IPOs

Global Cash Access Holdings Inc., a Las Vegas-based supplier of cash access, transaction processing and CRM services to the gaming industry, has set its proposed IPO terms to over 16.06 million common shares being offered at between $12 and $14 per share. It plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol GCA, with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan serving as lead underwriters. Significant shareholders include M&C International (38.69% pre-IPO stake), Summit Partners (34.91%), Tudor Investment Corp., HarbourVest Partners, General Motors Investment Management and Bank of America. www.globalcashaccess.com

Ad.Venture Partners Inc., a New York–based blank check acquisition company, pieced 9 million units at $6 per unit, for an IPO take of approximately $54 million. It will trade on the OTC Bulletin Board, while Wedbush Morgan Securities served as lead underwriter. The group is run by former Net2Phone Inc. CEO Howard Balter, and its board includes Shlomo Kalish, chairman and CEO of Jerusalem Global Ventures.

Caribou Coffee Company Inc., a Brooklyn Center, Minn.-based operator of 322 gourmet coffeehouses, has set its proposed IPO terms to approximately 5.36 million common shares being offered at between $13 and $15 per share. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol CBOU, with Merrill Lynch & Co. and Thomas Weisel Partners serving as lead underwriters. Caribou Coffee is controlled by Arcapita. www.caribou-coffee.com

FreightCar America Inc. (Nasdaq: RAIL), a Chicago-based maker of railroad freight cars, has filed to raise $100.2 million via a secondary offering. Selling shareholders include Trimaran Capital Partners (342,205 shares) and John Hancock Life Insurance Co. (458,342 shares) www.johnstownamerica.com

PE-Backed M&A

Rakuten Inc. (Jasdaq: 4755) has agreed to acquire LinkShare Corp., a New York-based provider of performance-based marketing solutions. The deal is valued at approximately $425 million in cash, and is expected to close within the next four to six weeks. LinkShare minority shareholders include Comcast Interactive Capital and Internet Capital Group. www.linkshare.com

Maxim Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: MAXM) has agreed to merge with EpiCept Corp., a venture-backed company that in May withdrew its $75 million IPO proposal. Under terms of the deal, EpiCept will issue shares of its common stock to Maxim Pharmaceuticals shareholders in exchange for all of the outstanding shares of Maxim, with EpiCept shareholders retaining approximately 72% ownership of the combined company and Maxim shareholders receiving approximately 28 percent. The combined company would have an equity value of approximately $136 million. EpiCept is an Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based drug company focused on pain management, and has raised over $32 million in VC funding from firms like TVM Techno Venture Management, Merlin Biosciences and GZ Paul Partners. www.epicept.com www.maxim.com

F5 Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: FFIV) has agreed to acquire Swan Labs Corp., a San Jose, Calif.–based provider of WAN optimization and application acceleration solutions. The deal is valued at $43 million in cash. Swan Labs has raised approximately $15 million in venture capital funding from Norwest Venture Partners, DCM-Doll Capital Management and Benhamou Global Ventures. www.f5networks.com www.swanlabs.com

Facts On File Inc., a publisher of print and online reference materials, has acquired Chelsea Home Publishers, a New York-based publisher of ciriculum-based nonfiction books for schools and libraries. No financial terms were disclosed. Facts On File was acquired by Veronis Suhler Stevenson in April. www.factsonfile.com

PodShow Inc. has acquired podcasting portal operator Podcast Alley, according to SiliconBeat.com. No financial terms were disclosed. PodShow recently raised $8.85 million in Series A funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital. www.podshow.com

Firm News

Christian & Timbers has acquired fellow executive search firm Feehan Barr Partners. www.ctnet.com

Human Resources

Joseph Wender has joined GSC Partners as a managing director, and head of the New York-based firm’s new Los Angeles office. Wender previously was a partner with Goldman Sachs & Co., where he spent more than 30 years, including a decade running its financial institutions group. www.gscpartners.com

Robert Yung has joined PMC-Sierra Inc. (Nasdaq: PMCS) as chief technology officer. He most recently served as co-founder and partner of GSR Ventures and, before that, in various CTO positions with Intel Corp. www.pmc-sierra.com

Stuart Yarborough, a co-founder and principal of CrossHill Financial Group, has joined the board of Market Central Inc. (OTC BB: MKTE). www.scientigo.com

Eric Myer reportedly has joined SG Corporate & Investment Banking (a unit of Société Générale) as senior banker and head of financial sponsors coverage in France. He previously was with JPMorgan.

Martha Metcalf has joined Credit Suisse Asset Management as head of U.S. High Yield. She previously was with Invesco, where she served as managing director and portfolio manager of global high yield bonds. www.csam.com

James Datin has joined Safeguard Scientifics Inc. (NYSE: SFE) has executive vice president and managing director of life sciences. He previously served as CEO of TouchPoint Solutions Inc. Safeguard also announced that it has promoted John Loftus to the position of executive vice president and managing director of information technology. www.safeguard.com

TUESDAYY, SEPTEMBER 6

Random Ramblings

Greetings to those of you who beached your way through summer, in order to get tanned and rested for the autumn stretch run. You’re probably quite busy, so just a few quick notes to begin the day:

*** A few weeks back, I expressed skepticism that many content-focused podcasting companies would be able to survive without also developing innovative infrastructure solutions. Ditto for blogging and any other new media distribution tool. John Furrier of Podtech.net, however, sees things a bit differently during a discussion/interview that can be heard here. It is my first-ever podcast, which only is notable for the fact that it also the first time I’ve slighted a new technology – or at least its financial prospects — while actually using that very technology. Maybe should cause me to reconsider…

*** Some links: PE Week on VC funding for micro-payment startups in China; Buyouts Magazine on Lincolnshire founder Steven Kumble filing suit against his former firm; and The San Jose Mercury News on the continuing saga of Wine.com (free reg. required).

*** Finally, lots of emails regarding the Hurricane Katrina columns, and I will get to a lot of it later this week – including a note from a life sciences VC who spent last Friday working as a physician in the Astrodome. I appreciate all feedback – the good, the bad and the ugly – so keep it coming. Also, I’ve included a vertical banner ad on the right-hand side for those interested in donating to the American Red Cross…

Top Three

Xigen SA, a Switzerland-based biotech company focused on intracellular peptide therapeutics for the treatment of strokes, myocardial infarctions and cancer, has raised approximately $21 million in Series A funding. Participants included Tilocor Life Sciences, Venture Incubator and Initiative Capital. www.xigenpharma.com

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) has agreed to acquire Harris Williams & Co., a Richmond, Va.-based M&A advisory for the middle-markets. No terms have been disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close next quarter. www.pnc.com www.harriswilliams.com

Thomas H. Lee Partners and H&Q Asia Pacific have formed a partnership whereby TH Lee portfolio companies can use the H&Q AP network to locate expansion and outsourcing opportunities in Asia. The agreement also will allow the two firms to jointly pursue buyout opportunities in Greater China, Japan and Korea. www.hqap.com

VC Deals

SpinX Technologies, a Switzerland-based provider of technologies to perform biological assays, has raised 10 million euros in Series B funding. Bio Fund Management led the deal, and was joined by Auriga Partners, DFJ ePlanet Ventures and return backers Index Ventures. www.spinx-technologies.com

CentrePath Inc. (f.k.a. GiantLoop), a Waltham, Mass.-based provider of management solutions for optical and storage networks, has raised $5 million in Series B funding from return backers Greylock and Pilot House Ventures Group. The company has raised $165 million in total VC funding since its 2000 inception. www.centrepath.com

Pelikon Ltd., a UK-based developer of plastic display technologies, has raised Gbp5 million in new venture funding. Return backers included Advent Venture Partners, Gartmore, VCF and Wales Fund Managers (acting on behalf of Finance Wales). The company plans to list on the AIM within the next 12 to 18 months. www.pelikon.com

CollabNet Inc., a Brisbane, Calif.-based provider of on-demand distributed development solutions, has raised $9.53 million in Series B-1 funding. Participants included Benchmark Capital, Industry Ventures, Intel Capital, Norwest Venture Partners and WR Hambrecht. The company has raised over $60 million in total VC funding since its 1999 inception. www.collab.net

Xactly Corp., a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of an on-demand sales compensation application, has raised $4 million in first-round funding from Bay Partners and Rembrandt Ventures. www.xactlycorp.com

General Atlantic has increased its stake in India-based drug company Jubilant Organosys Ltd. It now holds an 8.45% stake. www.generalatlantic.com

Buyout Deals

Spectrum Equity Investors and Stripes Group have acquired NetQuote, a Denver-based operator of online resources for consumer comparison shopping in the insurance market. No financial terms were disclosed, although a regulatory filing indicates that Spectrum and Stripes paid $56 million in equity. Technology Investment Capital Corp. provided mezzanine financing, while St. Charles Capital acted as NetQuote’s financial advisor. www.spectrumequity.com www.netquote.com

Castle Harlan has acquired the Polypipe Group building supplies unit of UK-based engineering group IMI PLC. The deal was valued at Gbp293 million. Deutsche Bank led the acquisition financing, while GE Capital provided Gbp35 million via a working capital facility. www.imi.plc.uk www.castleharlan.com

Castle Harlan has agreed to acquire The Restaurant Co., the operator and franchisor of 483 family restaurants under the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery brand. The deal is valued at approximately $245 million. www.castleharlan.com

Barclays Private Equity has received European Commission approval for its proposed buyout of Neumayer Tekfor GmbH, a Germany-based maker of steel components for the auto industry.

Peer 1 Network Enterprises Inc. (TSX Venture: PIX) has completed a US$36 million recapitalization sponsored by Celerity Partners. The company also announced that it has acquired the dedicated server assets of Interland Inc. (Nasdaq: INLD). www.peer1.net

PE-Backed IPOs

Williams Scotsman Inc., a Baltimore-based mobile and modular building solutions company, has set its proposed IPO terms to over 15.32 million common shares being offered at between $16 and $18 per share. The company plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol WLSC, with Citigroup, Lehman Brothers and CIBC World Markets serving as co-lead underwriters. The Cypress Group holds more than a 41% pre-IPO ownership position. www.willscot.com

Accentia Biopharmaceuticals Inc., a Tampa, Fla.-based drug company focused on respiratory disease and oncology, has reduced the number of shares being offered in its proposed IPO from 6.25 million to 2.5 million. Earlier, it reduced its proposed IPO price range from $11-$13 per share to $8-$10 per share. Significant shareholders include The Hopkins Capital Group, McKesson Corp. and Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc. www.accentia.net

Energy Transfer Equity LP, a Dallas, Texas-based limited partnership that owns three types of equity interests in energy company Energy Transfer Partners, has set its proposed IPO terms to 15 million common units being offered. It hopes to raise a total of $345 million, with UBS, Wachovia Securities and CSFB serving as co-lead underwriters. Significant shareholders include Natural Gas Partners and Harvard Management Co.

PE-Backed M&A

CheckFree Corp. (Nasdaq: CKFR) has bought Integrated Decision Systems Inc., a Los Angeles–based provider of enterprise portfolio management solutions to the financial services industry, for approximately $18 million in cash. Integrated Decision Systems has raised over $13 million in VC funding from Financial Technology Ventures and Shelter Capital Partners. www.checkfreecorp.com www.idsnet.com

Charter Baking Co., an acquisition platform formed earlier this year by Charterhouse Group, has completed the merger of Rudi’s Organic Bakery with the operations of The Vermont Bread Co. and the Adams Baking Corp.www.charterhousegroup.com

Firm News

Bear Stearns Merchant Banking Partners is looking to raise upwards of $1.75 billion for its third fund, according to a regulatory filing. Credit Suisse First Boston is serving as placement agent. www.bsmb.com

RCP Advisors is looking to raise upwards of $225 million for its third fund-of-funds focused on middle-market buyout funds, according to a regulatory filing. The Chicago-based firm already has secured over $78 million in commitments. www.rcpadvisors.com

Research Corporation Technologies, a Tuscan, Ariz.-based provider of early-stage venture funding from bio-medical companies, has opened offices in Boston, Los Angeles and Raleigh-Durham. The Boston office will be run by managing director Michael Berendt, who previously was a managing director with AEA Investors. Also working out of that office will be associate Jeffrey Moore, who joined RCT as a Kauffman Fellow after completing an MBA at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. The Los Angeles office will be run by director Paul Grand, who previously served as co-founder and VP of operations for Imagine Pharmaceuticals Inc. The Raleigh-Durham office will be run by director Doreen Grech, who previously was a principal with A.M. Pappas & Associates. www.rctech.com

Triangle Venture Capital Group of Germany has held a 30 million euros second closing on its fourth fund. Limited partners include RWB/Capvent and a variety of German family offices. www.triangle-venture.com

Human Resources

Robert Trudeau has joined Technology Crossover Ventures as a New York-based general partner. He previously was a principal with General Atlantic. www.tcv.com

Burt Hurlock has agreed to join UK-based venture firm Logispring as its first US-based partner. Hurlock will work out of Boston, and previously served as CEO of Edgewater Ventures. www.logispring.com

W.P. Carey & Co. (NYSE: WPC) has named John Miller as chief investment officer. He previously had served as co-CIO with George Stoddard, who is stepping down, but who will continue to serve as a director. W.P. Carey also announced the appointment of Benjamin Harris as director if the firm’s investment department. www.wpcarey.com

Jennifer Trickett and Michael Anderson have joined Summit Partners as vice presidents in the firm’s Palo Alto, Calif. office. Trickett previously was an associate in The Walt Disney Co.’s corporate strategic planning unit, and before that worked as an associate with Oak Hill Capital Management. Anderson previously was an associate with Onex Corp. In other Summit news, the firm announced that Ryan Sweeney has rejoined Summit as a Boston-based vice president. He had been an associate with Summit between 2000 and 2003, before leaving to get his MBA at Harvard Business School. www.summitpartners.com

Baseem Pharaon has been named senior vice president with Patriot Capital Funding Inc. (Nasdaq: PCAP). He previously worked for the GE Commercial Finance’s global sponsor finance group. www.pat-cap.com

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2

Sick from it All

A surprising amount of PE news for the Friday before Labor Day (why are you at work?), including some VC funding info on Visto Corp., and a new SPAC that includes Apple Computer vet Steve Wozniac. For all relative purposes, however, none of it much matters. In fact, business as usual seems a bit obscene, considering what is happening in the Gulf Coast region, and New Orleans in particular.

I obviously have no unique insight into the situation, as the majority of my knowledge comes from massive consumption of TV news. My few acquaintances and family members from the area – including a NOLA-based cousin with the Army Corps of Engineers – are safe, if not sound. But I do have a remarkable amount of shame in my country, which has been borne of anger, frustration and impotence. It is shame in our inability to provide for our fellow citizens in their time of greatest need. Not in our lack of desire or effort, mind you, but in our collective failure — this is our representative government, by the people and for the people.

I don’t doubt for a minute that most elected and appointed officials aren’t working as hard as they can, but it simply seems that they are not up to the logistical task. It breaks my heart.

What follows are two items from others. One from political blogger Andrew Sullivan, and the other from a physician stuck in NOLA (passed on by a reader). The first is right on the money, while the second is simply poignant.

Sullivan: “I have to say this seems to me to be a new situation. This has morphed from a natural disaster into a social meltdown. The Lousiana governor seems overwhelmed (Barbour seems much more effective); New Orleans’ civic authorities seem non-existent (and bear responsibility for the insufficient preparation for this potential and widely predicted nightmare); and the president’s response has been decidedly weak. His call to restrain from using gas was, well, Carteresque.

It seems to me inconceivable that we cannot impose basic law and order in a major American city five days after a hurricane has hit. This is a very basic governmental responsibility and all I can say is that I see no evidence of competence or effectiveness so far. FEMA had no solid evacuation plan? The feds had no plans to maintain order in such a situation? The explosion of complete lawlessness is beginning to make Haiti look like a pleasant place to live. This is America? Where order is so distant that snipers can prevent the evacuation of a hospital? The fundamental reason for my inability to support a second Bush term was his demonstrated incompetence in performing the basic functions of government. It seems to me that the people of New Orleans are now as much a victim of this as the people of Iraq. I guess we can merely be thankful that Rumsfeld hasn’t yet appeared to say “Stuff happens.” Yes, it does. When your government seems unable to do the most basic things required of it.

Email from Tuesday at 2pm: “I am now a temporary resident of the Ritz Carleton Hotel in New Orleans. I figured if it was my time to go, I wanted to go in a place with a good wine list. In addition, this hotel is in a very old building on Canal Street that could and did sustain little damage. Many of the other hotels sustained significant loss of windows, and we expect that many of the guests may be evacuated here…

Bodies are still being recovered floating in the floods. We are worried about a cholera epidemic. Even the police are without effective communications. We have a group of armed police here with us at the hotel that are admirably trying to exert some local law enforcement. This is tough because looting is now rampant. Most of it is not malicious looting. These are poor and desperate people with no housing and no medical care and no food or water trying to take care of themselves and their families….

There are physicians in at this hotel attending an HIV convention. We have commandeered the world famous French Quarter Bar to turn into a makeshift clinic. There is a team of about 7 doctors and PA and pharmacists. We anticipate that this will be the major medical facility in the central business district and French Quarter… and will start admitting patients today…

The biggest question to all of us is where is the National Guard? We hear jet fighters and helicopters, but no real armed presence, and hence the rampant looting. There is no Red Cross and no Salvation Army.

In a sort of cliché way, this is an edifying experience. One is rapidly focused away from the transient and material to the bare necessities of life. It has been challenging to me to learn how to be a primary care physician. I don’t know how long it will be and this is my greatest fear… The greatest pain is to think about the loss. And how long the rebuild will [take]. And the horror of so many dead people.

Top Three

Visto Corp., a Redwood City, Calif.-based provider of mobile access solutions, has raised more than $66.6 million in eighth-round (Series BB) funding. PE Week reported in May that the company was looking for between $60 million and $100 million, and the company currently is authorized to raise upwards of $92.5 million. (Note: that ceiling may still rise, due to intense buyer interest). DFJ ePlanet Ventures led the deal, and was joined by Oak Investment Partners, Rustic Canyon Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners and Draper Fisher Juvertson, VantagePoint Venture Partners and Allegis Capital. Visto has now raised over $220 million in total VC funding. www.visto.com

Acquicor Technology Inc., a Newport Beach, Calif.-based blank check acquisition company, has filed to raise $150 million via an IPO. It would trade on the OTC Bulletin Board, with Wedbush Morgan Securities and ThinkEquity Partners serving as lead underwriters. Acquicor management includes: Gilbert Amelio, chairman and CEO of Acquicor, and senior partner with Sienna Ventures; Ellen Hancock, president and COO of Acquicor, and former CEO of Exodus Communications; Steve Wozniac, executive vice president and CTO of Acquicor, and a former vice president of engineering at Apple Inc. who currently serves as president and CTO of Wheels of Zeus.

School Specialty Inc. (Nasdaq: SHCS), a Greenville, Wis.-based provider of supplemental learning products to the pre K-12 market, has completed its acquisition of Nashua, N.H.-based Delta Educations LLC from Wicks Learning Group LLC, an affiliate of private equity firm Wicks Group of Cos. The deal was valued at $272 million, with School Specialties utilizing its current credit facility and a $100 million term loan credit agreement recently agreed to with Bank of America. School Specialties announced in May that it would be acquired for $49 per share ($1.5 billion with assumed debt) by Bain Capital. That deal now also includes Thomas H. Lee Partners, which would hold a 40% stake in School Specialties with Bain holding the other 60% (both stakes would be reduced pro-rata to facilitate a small percentage of management ownership). The $49 per share price remains intact, and the deal recently received Canadian regulatory approval. www.schoolspecialty.com

VC Deals

Algeta ASA, a Norway-based drug company focused on cancer, has raised approximately $29 million in Series A funding. HealthCap, Advent Venture Partners and S.R. One were joined by return backers Selvaag Venture Capital, NorgesInvestor, Marlin Verdi AS, and the new investors HealthCap, Advent Venture Partners and SR One. www.algeta.no

CanyonBridge Inc., an Orem, Utah-based provider of Web-access solution for corporate messaging and calendar systems (including Microsoft Exchange), has raised $8.37 million in Series A funding, according to a regulatory filing. Backers include Venrock Associates, NorthBridge Venture Partners and Wasatch Venture Partners. www.canyonbridge.com

Video54 Technologies Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based wireless company focused on home media networking, has raised over $8 million in Series C funding, according to a regulatory filing. Return backers include Sequoia Capital and the W.K. Technology Fund. www.video54.com

Buyout Deals

Berkshire Partners has successfully completed its cash tender offer for of a majority stake in National Vision Inc. (AMEX: NVI) for $7.25 per share. In related news, National Vision has acquired all the outstanding common stock of Consolidated Vision Group Inc. for approximately $88 million, including around $48 million in debt repayment. Consolidated Vision was a portfolio company of Kelso & Co. www.berkshirepartners.com www.nationalvision.com

SeaSpecialties Inc. has agreed to sell the assets of its Barnacle Seafood division to Meriturn Partners for approximately $3.5 million. The company said it had filed voluntary petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., together with a motion seeking bankruptcy court approval of the sale. The company expects to announce a buyer for its Homarus/Marshall Smoked Fish Inc. unit in the near future, and will file a similar motion to implement that sale. www.seaspecialties.com

3i Group reportedly has acquired a 10% stake in Pilatus Flugzeugwerke AG, a Switzerland-based aircraft maker. No financial terms were disclosed.

PE-Backed IPOs

SGX Pharmaceuticals Inc. (f.k.a. Structural Genomics), a San Diego-based drug company focused on cancer therapeutics, has filed to raise $80.5 million via an IPO of common stock. The company plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol SGXP, with CIBC World Markets and Piper Jaffray serving as lead underwriters. The company has raised over $90 million in total VC funding since its 1998 inception, from firms like Atlas Venture (22.85% pre-IPO position), BA Venture Partners (22.61%) Sprout Capital (14.44%), Index Ventures (9.28%) and Prospect Venture Partners (7.78%). www.sgxpharma.com

Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc., a South San Francisco-based drug company focused on oncology and inflammatory diseases, has set its proposed IPO terms to 6 million common shares being offered at between $9 and $11 per share. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under proposed ticker symbol SNSS, with Lehman Brothers and SG Cowen & Co. serving as lead underwriters. The company has raised over $93 million in total VC funding since its 1998 inception, from significant shareholders like Abingworth Management, CSFB Private Equity, Mayfield, Venrock Associates and Warburg Pincus. www.sunesis.com

Intarcia Therapeutics Inc., an Emeryville, Calif.-based drug company focused on cancer and infectious diseases, has set its proposed IPO terms to 5 million common shares being offered at between $12 and $14 per share. The company plans to trade on the Nasdaq under proposed ticker symbol ITCA, with Credit Suisse First Boston serving as lead underwriter. Intarcia originally filed for a $57.5 million IPO in November 2000, but withdrew the offering in April 2001. Significant shareholders include New Enterprise Associates, Venrock Associates, Alta Partners, Granite Global Ventures and InterWest Partners. www.intarcia.com

SkinMedica Inc., a Carlsbad, Calif.-based drug company focused on dermatological conditions, has set its proposed IPO terms to 5.25 million common shares being offered at between $11 and $13 per share.. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol SKMD, with SG Cowen & Co. serving as lead book manager. SkinMedica has raised around $92 million in total VC funding since its 1999 inception, including a $15 million Series E round in March. Backers have included EuclidSR Partners, Apax Partners, Domain Associates, HealthCare Ventures, Montreux Equity Partners, Perseus-Soros BioPharmaceutical Fund and Split Rock Partners. www.skinmedica.com

D-Pharm Ltd., an Israel-based drug company focused on CNS disorders and cancer, has unable to raise enough capital for a planned listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). It now must go search for additional private equity funding. To date, D-Pharm has raised $55 million from Care Capital, Clal Biotechnology, Apax Partners, Vertex Management, Morgan Stanley Venture Partners, Gemini, Quintiles Transnational Corp., Rho Management, SG Cowen Ventures and Denali Ventures. www.dpharm.com

Q-Cells AG, a Germany-based solar cell maker owned by Apax Partners, reportedly is planning for a stock exchange listing next month. www.q-cells.com

PE-Backed M&A

New Energy Capital, a portfolio company of VantagePoint Venture Partners, yesterday announced the start of construction of a 40 million gallon per year ethanol production facility in Rensselaer, Ind., named the Iroquois Bio-Energy Co. New Energy provided most of the project’s equity, secured a $38.6 million loan from Farm Credit Services of Mid-America and will undertake financial and asset management for the approximately $70 million project. Other backers include nearly 300 local farmers and businesses, Fagen Inc., The Andersons Inc., Noble Americas Inc. and Indeck Energy Services Inc. In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy provided a grant. www.newenergycapital.com

Firm News

Dunedin Capital Partners of Scotland reportedly is in negotiations to buy UK-based Sand Aire Private Equity.

Human Resources

FTI Consulting Inc. (NYSE: FCN) has added three senior executives to its corporate finance/restructuring practice. Jerome Gold, former CFO for Platinum Equity LLC, and David Smalstig, former director for PwC’s transaction services group, have joined the company as senior managing directors within the transaction advisory services group. Christopher Nicholls, formerly a senior vice president with GE Capital’s media communications group, has joined as senior managing director within the communications & media industry team. www.fticonsulting.com

Scott Meadow, a former general partner with Sprout Group, has joined the board of directors at Advanced Life Sciences Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ADLS). Also joining the ALS board in Richard Reck, founder and president of Business Strategy Advisors, and a former partner with KPMG. www.advancedlifesciences.com

John Schweiters, vice chairman of Perseus LLC, has joined the board of Choice Hotels International Inc. (NYSE:CHH). www.choicehotels.com

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1

The Most Interesting SPAC Of All

I recently was interviewed by the Boston Business Journal for an article on SPACs, those blank check acquisition companies discussed here and here. The reporter took particular interest in a SPAC called MDC Acquisition Partners, which prompted a conversation that went something like this:

BBJ: Have you seen the filing for MDC Acquisition Partners I?
Me: Yup.
BBJ: What do you think about it?
Me: I don’t understand it.

Today, however, I’ve been educated, and believe that MDC’s success or failure could be a watershed for the private equity industry – particularly for firms that don’t expect to be able to raise follow-on funds due to poor performance or other nasty bugaboos.

Typical SPACs involve operating executives who band together for the purpose of raising acquisition capital from the public markets (without having yet identified which companies will be acquired). Private equity firms sometimes participate in a minority investor/advisory role, but never as the primary managers. MDC Acquisition Partners, however, will be managed by – and only by — private equity firm McCown De Leeuw & Co., a Menlo Park, Calif.-based middle-market buyout shop that has been in business since 1983. There are two non-McCown board members – including Jeff Drazen of Sierra Ventures – but this is McCown’s show.

Why would a private equity firm form a SPAC? Because McCown would have a very tough time raising a fifth fund via “traditional” methods (its $750 million fourth fund is basically out of dry powder, and has just four remaining portfolio companies). I spoke yesterday with a pair of existing McCown LPs, who both say that Fund IV is underwater with only faint hope of returning more than 90% of committed capital. Fund III performed better – particularly thanks to a pending $1.6 billion acquisition of 24 Hour Fitness by Forstmann Little – but it still won’t be a top-quartile performer. Moreover, many of Fund III’s investment pros are no longer active with the firm. In fact, it’s safe to say that current McCown CEO Bob Hellman is the only selling point left (Hellman declined to comment for this article, citing SEC “quiet period” restrictions related to the SPAC filing). It did recently hire Matthew Carbone from Wit Capital, but that appears to have been specifically for the SPAC. George McCown is basically retired, and Jack Murphy now serves as an operating partner.

Hellman did speak with placement agents last year about raising a fifth fund, but was mostly told not to waste his time. This left him with two options: Either shut down the firm or pig-headedly send out PPMs anyway. Bob, however, found a third way: Try to raise fund capital from the public markets via a SPAC. He enlisted Wedbush Morgan Securities to lead manage the offering, which is designed to raise $80 million within the next few weeks.

If successful – both in terms of the IPO and eventual acquisitions – McCown’s SPAC could give the firm a new lease on life. Not only would it have enough investment capital to stay in business a while longer (despite lower management fees than with a “traditional” fund), but it also could generate a couple of profitable deals, thus improving the firm’s attractiveness to private equity LPs during a future “traditional” fund-raising drive. Of course, if it fails, expect McCown to go the way of the dodo.

What is of macro importance here, however, is that other private equity firms may try to follow McCown’s lead. This is specifically true of other groups in the lower-to-middle-market buyout space, for two reasons: (1) Its fund-raising market is saturated; and (2) Lower-middle-market deals are the bread-and-butter of SPACs.

This isn’t to say that such offerings will necessarily be successful – particularly since SPAC volume is likely cyclical/dependent on hedge fund interest – but they almost certainly will be tried. No matter how McCown ends up, it at least could be called an innovator.

Top Three

Biolex Therapeutics Inc., a Pittsboro, N.C.-based protein therapeutics company, has raised $36 million in Series B funding. Polaris Venture Partners led the deal, and was joined by return backers Intersouth Partners, Quaker BioVentures, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners and Kitty Hawk Capital. The company has raised over $68 million in total VC funding since its 1997 inception, including a $24.4 million Series AA recap round in 2003. www.biolex.com

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. of Australia has won the auction for Gryphon Exploration Co., a Houston-based oil and gas exploration company focused on the Gulf of Mexico. The deal is valued at $296.9 million (including assumed debt), and will represent an exit for founding Gryphon shareholder Warburg Pincus. www.gryphon-exploration.com www.woodside.com.au

Insider Pages Inc., a Pasadena, Calif.-based Internet search company, just over $8.52 million in Series B funding, according to a regulatory filing. Backers include Sequoia Capital and Idealab. www.insiderpages.com

VC Deals

TargeGen Inc., a San Diego-based drug company, has raised $30 million in Series C funding. BB Biotech Ventures led the deal and wsas joined by H&Q Healthcare Capital Management and return backers Forward Ventures, Enterprise Partners, William Blair Capital Partners/Chicago Growth Partners, CDP Capital Technology Ventures, VantagePoint Venture Partners, China Development Industrial Bank and A.M. Pappas & Associates. TargeGen now has raised $70 million in total VC funding since its 2001 inception. It focuses on small molecule kinase inhibitors for the treatment of edema and angiogenesis-related diseases. www.targegen.com

PacketMotion Inc., a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of enterprise network security solutions, has raised just over $14 million in Series B funding, according to a regulatory filing. Intel Capital was joined on the deal by return backers Mohr, Davidow Ventures and Onset Venture Partners. www.packetmotion.com

LGC Wireless Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of in-building wireless networking solutions, has raised $2 million in additional Series B-1 funding. The tranche was led by GunnAllen Venture Partners, and brings the round total to $13 million. LGC Wireless has raised $93 million in total private funding since its 1996 inception. www.lgcwireless.com

ISTO Technologies Inc., a St. Louis-based ortho-biologics company, has raised $10.8 million in Series D funding. The deal includes equity and debt, with Zimmer Holdings serving as lead investor. Other participants included Alafi Capital Co., Life Science Partners and Mid-America Transplant Services. www.istotech.com

Q Inc., a San Francisco-based provider of network quality monitoring solutions, has raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding from Target Partners. It is the company’s first capital infusion since completing a management buyout earlier this month. www.q-hq.com

Buyout Deals

Haggar Corp. (NYSE: HGGR), a Dallas-based apparel company, has agreed to be acquired by Infinity Associates, Perseus LLC and Symphony Holdings Ltd. The deal is valued at $212 million in cash, or $29 per share. www.haggar.com

CVC Capital Partners has agreed to acquire Belgium-based shoe repair and key-cutting services chain Mister Minit from UBS Capital Partners. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which originally was expected to be valued at between 150 million euros and 200 million euros.

Temasek, the investment arm of the Singapore government, has agreed to pay $3.1 billion for a 10% stake in The Bank of China. It also has agreed to subscribe for $500 million worth of Bank of China shares when the group goes public. Earlier this month, the Royal Bank of Scotland also agreed to buy a 10% stake in Bank of China for $3.1 billion.

ABN AMRO Capital has sponsored a 230 million euros management buyout of the Loparex Group from publicly-traded UPM-Kymmene of Finland. Loprex is a Dutch producer of release liners for adhesive products. www.abnarmo.com

The Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund (Ares Management) and Teachers’ Private Capital (Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan) have completed their acquisition of National Bedding Co., the Itasca, Ill.–based maker of Serta mattresses. No financial terms were disclosed, except that company founders Burt Kaplan and Richard Yulman retained equity positions and board seats. www.serta.com

General Atlantic and Quadrangle Group have completed their acquisition of Dice Inc., a New York-based provider of online recruiting services for tech, engineering and security-cleared professionals. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which results in GA and Quadrangle each holding an equal ownership position. The Wall Street Journal, however, reported in June that the price-tag was approximately $200 million. www.dice.com

Cadbury Schweppes PLC confirmed that it has put its European beverages unit on the block, in an auction expected to net up to Gbp1.3 billion. Interested bidders are reported to include The Carlyle Group, Cinven and Lion Capital (f.k.a. Hicks Muse Europe), although strategic buyers like PepsiCo also could be in the mix. www.cadburyschweppes.com

ABN AMRO Capital has received European Commission approval for its pending buyout of Dutch specialty chemical company IMCD Group. www.abnamro.com

PE-Backed IPOs

Phoenix India Acquisition Corp., a New York–based blank check acquisition company focused on the IT market, has filed to raise $100 million via an IPO. It plans to trade on the OTC Bulletin Board, with Rodman & Renshaw serving as sole book manager. Executives include: Rohit Phansalkar, executive vice president and onetime CEO of Newbridge Capital; and Raju Panjwani, chairman, who previously served as a managing director of Morgan Stanley, where he helped establish the firm’s presence in India.

Alpha Security Group Corp., a New York-based blank check acquisition company focused on the IT market, has filed to raise $64 million via an IPO. It plans to trade on the OTC Bulletin Board, with Maxim Group serving as sole book manager. Executives include: Steven Wasserman, CEO, president and co-chairman, who also serves as managing partner of AMT Ventures; and Gary Johnson, co-chairman, and managing director of venture capital group High Beta of New Mexico.

VeriFone Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PAY) has filed to raise approximately $248 million via a secondary share offering. The company will sell 2.5 million shares, while current shareholders (including some members of management) will sell 8.5 million shares. No other details of the selling shareholders were disclosed, although GTCR Golder-Rauner currently maintains a 49% ownership position (31.9 million shares) and TCW/Crescent Mezzanine Partners holds a 4.8% position (3.14 million shares).

Tipp24 AG, a Germany-based Internet lottery company, reportedly is planning an IPO within the next year. Earlybird Venture Capital holds a 49% stake in the company. www.tipp24.de

SAIC Inc., a San Diego-based provider of scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services to government and select commercial users, has filed to raise $1.725 billion via an IPO of common stock. One of SAIC’s subsidiaries is SAIC Venture Capital Corp. www.saic.com

PE-Backed M&A

Multicom Security AB, a Sweden-based provider of secure communications services for monitored alarm ands mobile data applications, has acquired SecuriNet AS, a Norway-based provider of alarm monitoring services. No financial terms were disclosed. Multicom is a portfolio company of GMT Communications Partners, while SecuriNet was controlled by Kureka Nistefos AS. www.multicom.se www.securinet.no

Eureka Networks has completed its merger with InfoHighway Communications Corp., creating a telecom service provider serving approximately 14,000 small and medium business owners in the Northeastern U.S. No pricing terms were disclosed for the deal, which included debt financing from CapitalSource and additional investments from existing Eureka shareholders Apollo Real Estate Advisors, Trimaran Fund, Lazard Technology Partners, Gigaline and LLR Partners. InfoHighway has been controlled by GTCR Golder-Rauner. www.eurekabroadband.com

Firm News

Rabobank has sold off its Gilde private equity unit to Gilde management for an unsiclosed amount. Gilde currently has approximately 1.5 billion euros under management. www.rabobank.com

Human Resources

Ellie Antrim and Patrick Deem have joined Probitas Partners as associates. Antrim previously was a healthcare rep for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and, before that, an analyst for Bank of America’s corporate finance and syndications groups. Deem was an analyst in Bank of America’s financial sponsors group. www.probitaspartners.com

Michael Hagan has joined Morrison & Foerster LLP as a partner in the firm’s corporate finance group. He previously practiced with Coudert Brothers. www.mofo.com

John C. Wilson has joined i2 Telecom International Inc. (OTC BB: ITUI) has CFO and executive vice president. He most recently served as managing principal of Wentworth Advisors and, before that, was an I-banker in Credit Suisse First Boston’s global media and telecom group. www.i2telecom.com

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31

Computer, contractor and deadline dilemmas have converged this morning, so apologies for the lack of column. But to put my troubles – and yours too – in proper perspective, here’s an email from private equity pro Mike, who lives in New Orleans:

;My family and I evacuated New Orleans Sunday morning along with 1.5 million other coastal residents, and headed up to the safety of Arkansas. It’s hard to tell what’s happened to our office and home back in New Orleans but I suspect it’s not pretty. The pictures on CNN lead me to believe that our place is a mess. Cell phones and office phones don’t seem to ring or take voicemail, so the only way that people can communicate with me right now is via email (thank God for that). We’ve set up a temporary office at a friend’s office in Little Rock and are praying for our neighbors, our house and for a quick recovery for the area. I was supposed to draft and send out a letter of intent on a company this week that we are interested in acquiring but somehow it hasn’t quite seemed so important anymore to get this out pronto.

Top Three

Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp., a Beverley, Mass.-based development-stage drug company, has held a $25 million first close on a Series B funding round designed to raise $35 million. Pitango Venture Capital led the tranche, and was joined by return backers Care Capita, Rho Ventures and MedImmune Ventures. A final close is expected to occur by year-end. www.inotekcorp.com

Gracenote Inc., an Emeryville, Calif.-based digital entertainment company, has acquired Royal Philips Electronics’ audio identification and fingerprinting technology. The agreement also includes a long-term R&D agreement with Philips Research, and Philips taking an equity position in Gracenote. Gracenote also announced that it has raised $10.9 million in new VC funding from new and returning backers. It previously had raised approximately $39 million in VC funding from firms like Sequoia Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners. www.gracenote.com

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China has signed a memorandum of understanding to sell a 10% equity stake for more than $3 billion, according to Dow Jones. The buyers are Allianz AG ($1 billion), American Express ($200m-$300m) and a private equity fund of Goldman Sachs.

VC Deals

Pacific Biosciences of California Inc. (f.k.a. Nanofluidics), a Menlo Park, Calif.-based company focused on DNA gene sequencing, has raised $7.72 million of a $10.75 million Series C funding round, according to a regulatory filing. Participants include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Alloy Ventures and return backer Mohr, Davidow Ventures. www.nanofluidics.com

ExtraQuest Corp., an Englewood, Colo.-based provider of database administration services, has raised $3.25 million in Series A funding, according to a regulatory filing. Backers include Vista Ventures, Adams Street Capital Partners and Asset Management Partners. www.extraquest.com

ThingMagic Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based maker of RFID readers, has raised $10 million of an $11.5 million Series A funding round, according to a regulatory filing. Backers include The Exxel Group, Hale Ventures, Morningside Technology Ventures Ltd. and Inventec Appliances. www.thingmagic.com

Com2uS, a Seoul-based mobile game maker, has raised $8 million in VC funding from Storm Ventures and Walden International. www.com2us.com

Vuico Inc., a Houston, Texas-based mobile software company, has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding led by Aegis Capital. www.vuico.com

Allylix Inc., a Lexington, Ky.–based natural and fine chemical company, has raised $1.5 million in Series A funding. Bluegrass Angels led the deal, and was joined by the Commonwealth Seed Fund of Kentucky, the Kentucky Commercialization Fund and various California-based angels. The company also named Carolyn Fritz as its new CEO. www.allylix.com

Voice Genesis Inc., a Huntington Beach, Calif.-based provider of mobile messaging software, has raised $1 million in its second round of angel funding. The Keiretsu Forum led the round with an $850,000 investment. www.voicegenesis.com

InSciTek Microsystems Inc., a Rochester, N.Y.-based developer of mission-critical communications support systems to small businesses, has raised $4 million in new venture capital funding. High Peaks Venture Partners served as lead investor, and was joined by Advantage Capital Partners (both firms committed $2 million). It has raised a total of $13.5 million in VC funding since its 1993 inception. www.inscitek.com

iConclude, a Bellevue, Wash.-based provider of problem resolution management software, has raised $3 million in Series A funding. Madrona Venture Group led the deal, and was joined by Cronus Ventures and company management. www.iconclude.com

NAC Marketing Co., a Hicksville, N.Y.-based seller and distributor of branded vitamins and natural supplements, has raised an undisclosed amount of private equity funding from Alpine Investors and Stephens Group. www.nacmarketing.com

Gokuldas Images, a Bangalore, India-based apparel company, is in talks to sell an 18% equity stake to IL&FS Venture for approximately $10 million, according to The Economic Times.

Buyout Deals

Patriarch Partners has acquired certain assets of Oasis Corp., including its operating subsidiaries in Mexico, Ireland and Poland. No financial terms were disclosed. Oasis is a Columbus, Ohio-based maker of pressure and bottled water coolers. www.oasiswatercoolers.com

KB Toys Inc., a Pittsfield, Mass.-based toy and game retailer, has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The former Bain Capital portfolio company now is controlled by Prentice Capital Management. www.kbtoys.com

3i Group has received European Commission approval for its proposed acquisition of UK-based parking and traffic management services company Parking International Holdings. www.3i.com

CVC Capital Partners has received European Commission approval for its pending Gbp223 million buyout of Netherlands-based plastic pipe maker Wavin Group. www.cvceurope.com

PE-Backed IPOs

Traffic.com Inc., a Wayne, Pa.-based provider of real-time traffic information in the United States, has filed to raise $86.25 million via an IPO of common stock. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol TRFC, and will use W.R. Hambrecht & Co.’s OpenIPO process. The company has raised approximately $120 million in total VC funding since its 1997 inception. TL Ventures currently holds a 56.92% pre-IPO position, while other significant shareholders include PA Early Stage Partners, Convergence Capital and National Electrical Benefit Fund. Onetime backers Bessemer Venture Partners, Internet Capital Group and Baker Capital are not listed, although Bessemer still lists Traffic.com as a portfolio company on its website. www.traffic.com

PE-Backed M&A

Ramtron International Corp. (Nasdaq: RMTR) has acquired Goal Semiconductor Inc., a Montreal-based fabless semiconductor manufacturer. The deal is valued at approximately $7.6 million, including $2 million in cash and $5.6 million worth of Ramtron common stock. Goal had raised Vc funding from the Business Development Bank of Canada and The Solidarity Fund. www.ramtron.com www.goalasic.com

Metso Minerals, a unit of Metso Corp., has acquired Texas Shredder Inc., a San Antonio-based supplier of metal shredder products, for approximately 13 million euros. The sellers are a group of private investors led by Capital Southwest Corp. www.metso.com

NextWeb, a Fremont, Calif.-based fixed-wireless Internet service provider for businesses, has acquired the assets of 1^st Universe, a Huntington Beach, Calif.–based fixed-wireless service provider. No financial terms were disclosed. NextWeb last week announced that it had raised $3.5 million in Series E funding from Kaiser Permanente National Ventures and Saints Capital, plus a revolving line of credit from Silicon Valley Bank. www.nextweb.net www.1stuniverse.com

Horizon Wimba, a New York-based provider of collaborative software applications for online education, has acquired the assets of Silicon Chalk, a Vancouver-based provider of software that broadcasts a teachers’ prepared notes and lecture materials to local and remote students. No financial terms were disclosed. Horizon Wimba has raised VC funding from First Analysis Corp., Genifor Ventures, Jefferson Partners, TechnoCap and The Argentum Group. Silicon Chalk has raised VC funding from GrowthWorks. www.horizonwimba.com www.silicon-chalk.com

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) has acquired Image-Guided Nuerologics, a Melbourne, Fla.-based provider of precision navigation and delivery technologies for use in brain surgery. No financial terms were disclosed. IGN raised over $26 million in VC funding since its 1997 inception, from firms like Medtronic, Affinity Capital Management, Advantage Capital Partners, Coral Ventures, Capstone Ventures, Stonehenge Capital Co., Noro-Moseley Partners, Mayo Medical Ventures and Gideon Hixon Fund. www.medtronic.com www.igneurologics.com

Firm & Fund News

GEN3 Partners Inc., a consulting firm with offices in both Boston and St. Petersburg, Russia, has formed a San Francisco-based subsidiary to help commercialize “promising technologies identified within the Russian academic community.” It will be called GEN3 Ventures, and will partner with an affiliated venture capital fund – GEN3 Capital I – to launch new businesses focused on bringing new Russian technologies to market. GEN3 Capital I was launched in July to back early-stage companies in the wireless communications, energy storage and non-invasive medical device markets. www.gen3.com

The Houston Venture Capital Association has changed its name to the Houston Private Equity Association. It also announced that Christopher Kersey, managing director of Cogene Ventures, has been elected to succeed Gaines Matthews as president.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30

Random Ramblings

Just a couple quick notes as we wait for the late August doldrums to pass…

*** There are very few venture capitalists or buyout pros based in the areas directly affected by Hurricane Katrina, and most of those folks seem to be ok (I say “most” only because I couldn’t reach everyone). Advantage Capital reports that its New Orleans office is obviously closed, and that “nearly everyone from Advantage left the city, and we believe all are safe.” Enhanced Capital Partners said at 2pm yesterday that it hadn’t heard from any of its New Orleans crew, but believed that they had all evacuated. From further north in Birmingham, Jennifer said that they were simply planning for massive amounts of rain. She then added: “Our thoughts and prayers are with all the VC’s and partners in New Orleans and the surrounding area… Not much business going on today. Everyone is a little on edge. Please do have the PE Wire chain lift up positive thoughts and prayers for everyone in the storm’s path.

In that vein, if anyone has any status updates on people either based in the storm’s path – or on people who otherwise happened to be in the area – please pass it on so it can be shared with their colleagues. For those who want to help financially, try The American Red Cross’ National Disaster Relief Fund. To repeat Jennifer’s message: Our thoughts and prayers are with those currently going through this horrible situation.

*** Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, who co-founded Columbia Capital before moving into politics, has opted not to run for U.S. Senate against incumbent George Allen. He is said to be considering a 2008 presidential run.

*** I expect Wire readers to come up with something for Paul to shout other than “Tell your bodyguards to sit down, they’re blocking my view.

*** One more reminder that Buyouts Magazine is looking to add a Senior Editor (which really is more about writing/reporting than editing). Please send relevant materials to Danielle.Fugazy@thomson.com.

*** You’ll notice a VC funding note for Methanotech, a startup company that just raised $500,000. The regulatory filing indicates that Vinod Khosla is involved, but his listing is “c/o Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.” In other words, I’m not quite sure if Vinod did the deal alone and that KPCB is just a mailing address, or if KPCB also put in some of its own money(I hope to find out the answer later today). The reason for my confusion is that Vinod is not actually a GP on KPCB’s current fund. Moreover, a May 2005 BusinessWeek piece said: “Though he still keeps an office at the firm, he now invests his own money, sometimes alongside KPCB, sometimes with other VC firms, and sometimes solo… But when making new investments, he bets only his own money.” On the other hand, that same piece may already be dated, given its note that KPCB only puts one partner on each portfolio company board. That is clearly no longer operable (at least as a firm rule), based on the recent PodShow example…

Top Three

Jobster Inc., a Seattle-based provider of online job advertising services, has raised $19.5 million in Series B funding. Mayfield led the round, and was joined by return backers Ignition Partners and Trinity Ventures. www.jobster.com

Midasplayer.com Ltd., a UK-based skill gaming company, has raised 34 million euros in venture capital funding from Apax Partners. The deal gives Apax a “significant minority stake.” in Midasplayer.com. www.midasplayer.com www.apax.com

Cardiome Pharma Corp. (Nasdaq: CRME) has agreed to acquire Artesian Therapuetics Inc., a Gaithersburg, Md.-based drug discovery and development company focused on small-molecule candidates for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The deal is valued at $32 million, although that payment is contingent on Artesian’s first two drug candidates receiving NDA approval. It also involves a side deal with Artesian shareholder Oxford Bioscience Partners, whereby Oxford will invest $7.5 million into Cardiome in exchange for Cardiome common stock, as a price of $7.24 per share (a 5% premium pre-LOI five day average). The acquisition is expected to close in October. Artesian has raised over $14 million in VC funding since its 2002 inception, from firms like Oxford and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Cooley Godward. www.cardiome.com www.artesianrx.com www.oxbio.com

VC Deals

Reply Inc., a Walnut Creek, Calif.-based provider of consumer online services and performance-based e-marketing solutions, has raised $17 million in new venture capital. BA Venture Partners led the deal, and was joined by return backer Orix Venture Finance and a group of individuals that included company CEO Payam Zamani. Sharon Wienbar, a managing director with BA Venture Partners, will take a seat on Reply’s board of directors. www.reply.com

Canesta Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based developer of electronic perception
technology, has raised $12 million in Series C-1 funding, according to a regulatory filing. Participants include Venrock Associates, Carlyle Group, TechFund Capital and KGIF LP. www.canesta.com

Methanotech Inc., a Pasadena, Calif.-based startup focused on producing methanol via “biological processes,” has raised $500,000 in Series A-1 convertible preferred funding, according to a regulatory filing. Vinod Khosla is listed as a backer c/o Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Time Plus Inc., an Atlanta-based provider of payroll, tax filing and benefits management services to small and mid-sized businesses, has raised $30 million in venture capital funding. Chicago Growth Partners led the deal, and was joined by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Time Plus management. www.timeplus.com

Machine Phase Systems Inc. of Los Altos, Calif. has raised $6.2 million in Series B funding. Participants included Greylock, Endeavor Group, Boyd Smith and Peter Thiel. The news was first reported by BusinessWeek, and also appears in a regulatory filing from July. www.machinephasesystems.com

Turtle Island Recycling Corp., a Toronto-based multi-material recycling and waste removal company, has received an undisclosed amount of private funding from Whitecastle Private Equity Partners. The deal also included bank financing from the National Bank of Canada. www.turtleislandrecycling.com www.whitecastle.ca

Buyout Deals

SilkRoad Resources LLC, a private equity firm that acquires U.S. manufacturing companies and moves production overseas, has acquired Pilgrim Fireplace Equipment Co., a Fairfield, Conn.-based maker of hearth and fireplace accessories. No financial terms were disclosed. Triton Pacific Capital Partners also participated on the deal, while Pilgrim was advised by RSM EquiCo Capital Markets. SilkRoad has offices in Palo Alto, Calif., Scottsdale, Ariz. and Beijing. www.pilgrimhearth.com

PE-Backed M&A

Aptuit Inc., a provider of streamlining and support services for drug developers, has agreed to acquire Almedica International Inc., a provider of clinical trial material supplies and global trial medication management services. No pricing terms of the all-cash deal were disclosed. Aptuit raised $150 million in private equity funding from Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe earlier this year, and has almost completed its $125 million acquisition of three divisions of Quintiles Transnational. www.aptuit.com www.almedica.com

Firm & Fund News

BlueRun Ventures (f.k.a. Nokia Venture Partners) has opened a new office in Shanghai, China. It will be run by Andrew Chen, who before joining BlueRun was business director with Silicon Storage Technologies. He also served as a Shanghai-based consultant with McKinsey & Co. www.brv.com

Human Resources

Lincolnshire Management has expanded its deal origination team: Pieter Kodde, New York-based managing director, will focus on the food and beverage industries, after previously serving as managing director of the North American financial sponsors group for Rabobank; and William Hall, Los Angeles-based managing director, who has served as an executive with such companies as Warner Brothers and Capital Records. Hall will work with Ed Moss, a founding partner of Kline Hawkes & Co., who most recently worked with Mellon Ventures. www.lincolnshiremgmt.com

—————–
Correction: The correct website address for Granite Ventures is www.granitevc.com.

Monday, August 29

Monday Mouth-Off

The Framingham sky is cloudy, oil futures are rocketing and everyone’s thoughts and prayers are with those in the path of Hurricane Katrina (particularly with those in the Superdome, which just lost a small piece of its roof, and with those in the collapsed hotels/apartment buildings). In other words, it’s time for a somber — and long — Monday Mouth-Off:

*** A few of you wrote in to take issue with the following statement I made regarding Mayfield’s loss of some top-tier LPs: “The quality of your investors matters when it comes to recruiting new talent and even sometimes when doing deals. If you don’t believe me, why is everyone so excited that PodShow got funded? Is it because of the money itself, or because the money came from Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia?”

D writes: “There is a huge difference in the value of dollars coming from a venture investor such as Kleiner and Sequoia and an LP investor (even a ‘high quality’ one).The talent, resources, contacts, network, input, aura, direction etc. that Kleiner or Sequoia provide their funded companies truly have the ability to turbo-charge a startup (even an already promising one like PodShow), and allow it to quickly dominate a sector and suck talent from competitors. I have never heard the same said about any specific LP investor.” Good point D… although the participation of certain brand-name LPs can help prompt other LPs to sign up. Then there also are issues like helping out one’s alma matter, having stable investors (endowments will stick around, corporate pensions may not) and having LPs whose staffs are well-paid in order to provide continuity (unlike, say, public pensions).

*** Bryce thinks I jumped the gun in assessing the ROI of Highland and Oak’s investment in FastClick, which has agreed to be acquired by rival Valueclick: “Highland and Oak are not selling out, they are just accepting stock in the combined FastClick/ValueClick in exchange for their FastClick shares. Isn’t it a little too early to say whether Highland and Oak’s LPs are happy. Highland and Oak may be planning to hold their ValueClick shares for the next couple of years, during which period this could become a great investment. Am I missing something?” No Bryce, you’re right. I should have couched the column as “Where it stands now” instead of as “This is how it ends up.” Ditto for my upcoming look at the pending Eyetech Pharmaceuticals acquisition.

*** Bill writes: “I read with interest the links to John Cook, Brad Feld and SiliconBeat in today’s column. Do you know of similar blogs that are LBO-oriented (in contrast to VC-oriented)?” Nope.

*** Now on to SPACs, or blank check acquisition companies (here’. Many of you complained that TheStreet.com story I linked to on Thursday was overly cynical (you’re probably correct), so here is a more balanced look from today’s Washington Post (free registration req.), with a particular focus on SPAC underwriter Ferris Baker Watts. Here are a handful of the dozens of SPAC comments:

William: “I agree that there may be a ‘herd mentality or bubble’ brewing, but also feel that there may be some merit in such a vehicle itself. TheStreet.com… writer forgot to include the biggest SPAC raised up to that date, that of International Shipping Enterprises, who raised $196M. They quickly identified an acquisition target, signed an LIO in February, and are closing the transaction [last Thursday]. Their shares (ISPH.OB) and units (ISPBU.OB) are up from the offer price, and have turnover. Perhaps [TheStreet.com] needs to be cynical to get the interest of the readers. Also, there willeventually be people thatare corrupt and will abuse the systemor the vehicle, but to write off the wholeprocess maybe like writing offMP3 downloads because Napster lost in court. Look at iTunes today!

Peter: “I agree that an SPAC on its own merits doesn’t get you a lot… it’s basically an amorphous investment entity. But it can definitely have some big advantages. First, an SPAC often includes an NOL shell, which doesn’t actually have value until you find appropriate cash-flow businesses to buy against it. So if you find a business with big NOLs (esp. life science shells, with big R&D investments that might never have paid off), you get a nice tax arbitrage opportunity. Second, having a public currency is good news when prospecting for M&A deals since you can attract talent with liquid stock, which private companies can’t do by definition.Any build/buy plan is only as good as the people involved. In a related point, SPACs get the benefit of avoiding the private company discount in M&A discussions, and find it easier to raise senior debt. Finally, although public filings are a pain, they will force discipline to help weed out pretenders.Ditto for SOX costs.

Bert: “The interest in SPAC’s reminds me of the near past – the last 1990’s rollup phenomena, which led to blind purpose IPO’s whose only goal was to roll up additional industries.Have we already forgotten about Jonathan Ledecky and the $552 million IPO of Consolidation Capital in 1998, which had only a rough guide of potential sectors to be rolled up? The equity shareholders, and Apollo in a subsequent restructuring, had their heads handed to them as they rightly deserved (as it became Building One, then Group Maintenance America Corp., and finally Encompass Services as it sailedinto Chapter 11).I’m sure there are other examples. SPAC’s exist only because they can – there are the creation of a moment driven by a hungry market and underwriters who are willing to profit from feeding it. The reinvention of SPAC’s makes one wonder how many folks were around just 7-10 years ago.

*** Finally, results of Friday’s poll question: “Do you expect New York AG Elliott Spitzer to set his sights to private equity?” 48.4% said no, 42.2% said yes and 9.4% were not sure.

Top Three

Intelsat Ltd. has agreed to acquire fellow satellite company PanAmSat Holding Corp. (NYSE: PA) for $25 per share, or $3.2 billion. In addition, Intelsat will either refinance or assume $3.2 billion of PanAmSat debt. Leverage for the full amount of the purchase price has been committed by a financing consortium that includes Deutsche Bank Securities, Citigroup Global Markets, Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman Brothers. Intelsat was acquired in a $5 billion going-private transaction earlier this year by Apax Partners, Apollo Management, Madison Dearborn Partners and Permira. PanAmSat completed a $900 million IPO this past March ($18 per share), with significant shareholders including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., The Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners. www.intelsat.com www.panamsat.com

Granite Ventures has closed its latest fund with $350 million in capital commitments. The San Francisco-based firm will continue to back early-stage software and communications deals, and secured such limited partners as Texas Instruments, Paul Capital and the Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois. In conjunction with the fund close, firm co-founder Gene Eidenberg, 65, has transitioned into a part-time advisory role, while former managing director Rupen Dolasia has decided to leave in order to pursue other opportunities. www.graniteventures.com

DiBcom SA, a Paris, France-based fabless semiconductor company specializing in chipsets for mobile televisions, has raised 24.5 million euros in fourth-round funding. Partech International led the deal, and was joined by Intel Capital, 3i Group, WI Harper, UMC and return backers like Convergent Capital, SGAM Private Equity and Vertex Management Israel. www.dibcom.net

VC Deals

Teknovus Inc., a Petaluma, Calif.-based provider of broadband-access semiconductor chipsets, has raised $13 million in Series C funding. Focus Ventures led the deal, and was joined by Infotech Ventures, Komura, Venture Tech Alliance and return backers Mitsubishi Corp., Partech International, Portview Communications, Samsung Ventures America, SUITgrowth Fund and U.S. Venture Partners. Teknovus has raised approximately $33 million in total VC funding since its 2002 inception. www.teknovus.com

Allux Medical Inc. (f.k.a. MedInvent), a Menlo Park, Calif.-based medical device company focused on hyper-reactive airway mucosa, has raised approximately $5 million in Series B funding, according to a regulatory filing. Return backers include Prospect Venture Partners, Three Arch Partners and Venrock Associates. www.medinvent.com

Funcom NV, a Norwegian computer and video game maker, has raised approximately 4.7 million euros in VC funding from Nordic Venture Partners. www.funcom.com

Destinator Technologies Inc., a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based provider of personalized navigation software and live navigation-based mobile services, has raised $9 million in Series B funding. According to VentureWire, participants included American International Group and Mavrix Funds. www.destinator.com

Sensicore, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based provider of water testing and monitoring sensors, has raised $12 million in Series C funding. Participants included Ardesta, Firelake Capital, NGEN Partners, Technology Partners and Topspin Partners. www.sensicore.com

Buyout Deals

Teachers’ Private Capital, the private equity arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, has agreed to acquire Doane Pet Care Co., a Brentwood, Tenn.-based maker of private label pet food. The deal is valued at $840 million in cash. JPMorgan Partners is Doane’s primary shareholder, with other backers including Bruckman, Rosser, Sherrill & Co., CapStreet Group and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners. www.doanepetcare.com

Audax Group has acquired Victor Oolitic Stone Co., a Bloomington, Ind.–based provider of Indiana limestone to the global stone market. No financial terms were disclosed. Victor Oolitic was represented on the deal by Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. www.kiva.net/~victor/

Oltchim, a state-owned petrochemical company in Bucharest, reportedly is planning to divest of several non-core assets, before putting itself on the auction block later this year. www.oltchim.com

The Carlyle Group and Prudential Financial reportedly have agreed to pay up to $400 million for a 25% stake in Chinese life insurer China Pacific Life Insurance. The private equity firms also would take over managerial control of China Pacific Life, and would have the option to increase their shareholding to 49 percent. www.carlyle.com

CVC Capital Partners and Electra Partners have co-sponsored a Gbp450 million management buyout of UK-based book publisher CPI, according to The Financial Times. CPII is the parent company of Bath Press, Cox and Wyman and Mackays.

PE-Backed IPOs

Dover Saddlery Inc., a Littleton, Mass.-based retailer and direct marketer of equestrian products, has filed to raise $40 million via an IPO of common stock. The company plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol DOVR, with WR Hambrecht & Co. using its OpenIPO distribution method to serve as lead manager. Citizens Ventures holds a 30.7% pre-IPO ownership stake. www.doversaddlery.com

Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE), a Dallas-based chemicals company, has filed for a $200 million secondary stock offering. The primary selling shareholder will be The Blackstone Group, which currently holds a 62.4% ownership stake. www.celanese.com

PE-Backed M&A

Integreo Inc. (f.k.a. STI Knowledge), an Atlanta-based business process outsourcing company, has acquired the revenue cycle managed services unit of Siemens Medical Solutions. No financial terms were disclosed. Integreo has raised nearly $35 million in VC funding from WestBridge Capital Partners, Mellon Ventures and BV-Cornerstone Ventures. www.integreo.com

Firm & Fund News

Priveq Capital Funds of Toronto has held a Cdn$40 million first close on its third fund, which will focus on small buyouts and expansion capital commitments. Limited partners include BDC Venture Capital and Teachers’ Private Capital, the private equity arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. www.priveq.ca

The High-Tech Start-up Fund has been launched as a partnership between the German government, and German companies BASF, Deutsche Telekom, Kfw Banking Group and Siemens. It will provide up to 500,000 euros in startup funding (combination of equity and subordinated notes) to German companies. Founders must contribute 20% of the equity (10% if they are from former East Germany and/or Berlin), and recipients will not be restricted from also applying for federal grants. The entire fund has 262 million euros under management, with 240 million euros coming from the German government.

Human Resources

Allan O’Bryant, a longtime executive with insurer Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFLAC), has left the company to launch a private equity firm focused on emerging growth companies. He spent the past nine years in Japan, most recently as president of Aflac International. www.aflac.com

Jason Michael Klein and Nicolas Chammas have joined Accel-KKR as vice president and associate, respectively. Klein most recently served as a vice president in Goldman Sachs’s technology, media and telecom I-banking group, while Chammas served as an I-banking analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston’s tech group. www.accel-kkr.com

Nearly there!

Register now

Login

Sign in to your account

Nearly there!

We have just sent you an email so you can verify your account. Please check your spam or junk folder just in case it’s been delivered there.