No column today, as I’m snowed in by something we’ll be announcing tomorrow morning. In the meantime:
Cumulus Media Inc. (CMLS) has ended talks over a $1.3 billion buyout of the company, to be led by Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity and Cumulus CEO Lewis Dickey. The deal had been announced last July, and would have paid Cumulus stockholders $11.75 per share. As part of the termination agreement, the buying group will pay Cumulus $15 million.
Research in Motion (RIM) today announced that it has formed a $150 million venture capital fund to invest in mobile applications and services that will work with its Blackberry devices. The Blackberry Partners Fund is being co-managed by RBC Venture Partners and JLA Ventures. Investors include RIM, RBC and Thomson Reuters.
Morgan Stanley has raised $4 billion for a new infrastructure private equity fund.
VC Deals
Facebook, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based social networking company, has secured $100 million in venture debt from TriplePoint Capital, according to BusinessWeek. The report says that the capital will be used to buy additional servers, and that it chose debt so as not to cause further equity dilution. Facebook has raised around $500 million in prior funding, from firms like Accel Partners, Greylock and Microsoft.
SomaLogic Inc., a Boulder, Colo.-based developer of proteomics systems for medical diagnostics, has raised $35 million in Series A funding, according to a regulatory filing. Shareholders include Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Stronghold Capital, ProQuest Investments, Profundix LLC, MorrGold LLC and Quest Diagnostics Inc. www.somalogic.com
FireEye Inc., a Milpitas, Calif.-based provider of anti-botnet protection, has raised $14.5 million in Series C funding. DAG Ventures led the round, and was joined by Juniper Networks and return backers JAFCO Ventures, SVB Capital, Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) and Sequoia Capital. FireEye has now raised $34.5 million in total VC funding since 2005.
Multigig Inc., a Scotts Valley, Calif.-based developer of semiconductor timing solutions, has raised $12.5 million in Series B funding. CMEA Ventures led the round, and was joined by Sierra Ventures andHi-Tech Venture Capital.
Revance Therapeutics Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based drug company focused on the aesthetic medicine and personal wellness categories, has raised $8 million in additional Series C funding led by Bio*One Capital. The company had held a $43.2 million first close last December, from firms like Medicis Pharmaceuticals Corp., Essex Woodlands Healthcare Ventures, Vivo Ventures, Technology Partners, Shepherd Ventures and Palo Alto Investors.
Veodia Inc., a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of online video broadcasting solutions, has raised $8.3 million in Series A funding. Backers include Clearstone Venture Partners, D.E. Shaw and individual angels like iParadigms chairman Steven Berger. www.veodia.com
MindFrame Inc., a Lake Forrest, Calif.-based developer of mechanical devices for ischemic stroke treatment, has raised $6 million in Series A funding, according to a regulatory filing. The company had previously raised $1 million in seed funding. Backers include SV Life Sciences and Intersect Partners.
CynDen Ltd., a UK developer of intense pulsed light-based treatments for cosmetic medical procedures, has raised £2.8 million in VC funding. Unilver Ventures was among the investors, while Longbow Capital served as placement agent.
Viigo, a Toronto-based provider of mobile content access solutions, has raised C$1.5 million in additional Series A funding from RBC Venture Partners. It had previously held a C$6.4 million first close.
Buyout Deals
The Carlyle Group has agreed to acquire Greek chemical company Neochimiki for €749 million, or €19 per share. Carlyle said that a consortium of Greek and international institutions would provide leveraged financing, but it did not provide specifics. This represents Carlyle’s first Greek buyout.
Heritage Partners and Black Canyon Capital have co-sponsored a leveraged recap of Saunders & Associates, a Phoenix-based maker of test measurement and production equipment for the frequency control device manufacturing industry. Saunders management also participated in the deal, which allowed some founding shareholders to cash out. It also provided partial liquidity for certain managers, while enabling them to retain operational control of the company. No financial terms were disclosed.
Goldman Sachs and Macquarie Infrastructure Partners have completed their $544 million take-private buyout of Waste Industries USA Inc. (Nasdaq: WWIN), a regional provider of non-hazardous solid waste services. Waste Industries stockholders received $38 per share.
Graham Capital Group has acquired Joseph Simon & Sons Inc., a Tacoma, Wash.-based provider of scrap metal processing in the Pacific Northwest. No financial terms were disclosed. D.A. Davidson & Co. represented JSS on the deal.
AIG Investments has made a $65 million equity investment in Calyx Agro Ltd., a platform sponsored by Louis Dreyfus Commodities to acquire, develop, operate and sell agricultural land in Latin America (primarily in Brazil). Read more…
PE-Backed IPOs
Aldagen Inc., a Durham, N.C.-based developer of clinical-stage regenerative therapies, has filed for an $80.5 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol ALDH, with Wachovia Securities and Cowen & Co. serving as co-lead underwriters. The company has raised around $65 million in VC funding since 2000, from firms like Intersouth Partners (41.6% pre-IPO stake), Harbert Venture Partners (14.7%), The Aurora Funds (12.3%), Tullis-Dickerson (9.3%) and Trelys Funds (5.4%). www.aldegen.com
Elixir Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based drug company focused on metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity, has withdrawn registration for an $86.25 million IPO, due to “market conditions.” It had planned to trade on the Nasdaq, with Credit Suisse serving as lead underwriter. The company has raised over $78 million in VC funding since 2000, from firms like MPM Capital (29.4% pre-IPO stake), Arch Venture Partners (16.4%), Oxford Bioscience Partners (10.4%), CDIB, Jafco Ventures and YFY Bioscience. www.elixirpharm.com
PE Exits
Tenaska Capital and Warburg Pincus have agreed to sell three electricity generation plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to APT Generation. In additional, Tenaska will sell its Calumet Energy Power Station in Chicago. The combined sale price is $856.4 million.
Firms & Funds
Lightspeed Venture Partners has closed its eigth fund with $800 million in capital commitments. Its seventh fund had closed on $475 million in late 2005. The firm is based in Silicon Valley, but also has offices in China, India and Israel.
Pfingsten Partners has closed its fourth fund with $525 million in capital commitments. The Chicago-based firm focuses on middle-market opportunities in the manufacturing, distribution and business service sectors.
Abingworth Management, a healthcare-focused VC firm, is planning to raise between $100 million and $200 million for its first growth equity fund, according to VentureWire. The firm is currently investing out of a £300 million general venture fund. www.abingworth.com
Rodman & Renshaw Group has agreed to acquire the operating assets of COSCO Capital Management, a private I-bank focused on the oil and gas sectors. No financial terms were disclosed. www.rodmanandrenshaw.com
Sirius Group of Singapore is targeting S$30 million (US$22m) for a new fund that will invest in growth and expansion-stage companies in Singapore. It already has held a S$15 million first close.
Human Resources
Amit Chandra has joined Bain Capital as a managing director and head of Indian operations, according to VC Circle. He is a former Merrill Lynch banker who most recently served as a managing director of India-focused PE fund New Silk Route.
John Hogan has joined Norwest Mezzanine Partners as a partner. He previously was with Piper Jaffray & Co., as a managing director and head of the firm’s financial sponsors group.
Graphite Capital has added three new investment managers: Kane Bayliss, formerly an associate director focused on the oil and gas sector with Terra Firma Capital Partners; Mark Hall, previously with Lyceum Capital as an associate partner focused on business services deals; and Omar Kayat, previously an assistant director in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ financial institutions group. The UK-based firm also added Mudassir Khan as a financial analyst. He previously was with KPMG. www.graphitecapital.com
Adam Black has joined Doughty Hanson & Co. to oversee sustainability matters within the firm. He also will advise portfolio companies on environmental, social and governance issues. He previously was an associate director in the Risk and Sustainability group of KPMG.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP has elected Brad Karp the firm’s new chairman. He succeeds Alfred Youngwood, who will retire at year-end. Karp has been with Paul Weiss since 1985, and currently is co-chair of its litigation department. Read more…
John Rutledge, chairman of mid-market PE firm Rutledge Capital, has joined the board of PCG Asset Management as an independent director. PCG AM is a private equity consultancy.
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