No column this morning, as I arrived at my spacious cubicle to find that Thomson doesn’t believe I work here any longer. That meant a desk full of garbage (not a metaphor) and no Internet access until about 8:30am. Guess I should get out of the home office a bit more often…
Anyway, I only had enough time to put the news together, before writing this brief note and sprinting over to the BIO 2007 convention. Back at full strength tomorrow. In the meantime, we posted some new content on peHUB.com for your perusal…
• Amanda reports in from London, to say that Someone’s At the Gate
• Time Magazine’s includes one buyout pro and one venture capitalist in its annual list of the world’s 100 most influential people.
• My corporate overlords are interested in buying Reuters. I have no sustentative comment, but do have a Thomson research note on publishing industry M&A.
• As always, news and analysis throughout the day — including some posts from BIO 2007.
Top Three
Qantas said that an Au$11 billion buyout offer from Macquarie Bank and TPG has failed, after Australian regulators refused to allow the buying group to count supporting shares that it acquired after Friday’s deadline. The airline carrier said that it will now “proceed with strategic plans” for its future, while Macquarie and TPG have vowed to appeal the regulators’ ruling.
CardioMEMS Inc., an Atlanta-based developer of wireless medical pressure sensors, has withdrawn registration for an $86.25 million IPO. The company said that the financing would have been “discretionary,” and that “terms currently obtainable in the public marketplace are not sufficiently attractive” to pursue an IPO at this time. It had planned to trade on the Nasdaq, with Banc of America Securities serving as lead underwriter. CardioMEMS has raised around $52.6 million in total VC funding from firms like Arcapita, Easton Capital Partners, Boston Millennia Partners, Foundation Medical Partners, Medtronic, Inc. and Johnson and Johnson Development Corp. www.cardiomems.com
Hank Boughner and John Baurnstark have joined H.I.G. Capital as a managing director and entrepreneur-in-residence, respectively. Boughner will focus on venture and growth equity opportunities in the tech and business services spaces, and previously was with Goldman Sachs’ private equity group in charge of direct, fund and secondary investments in the tech sector. Baurnstark previously was with IBM, most recently in charge of the WebSphere customer center unit. www.higcapital.com
VC Deals
Pulmonx Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif.-based maker of devices for interventional pulmonology, has raised $20.45 million in Series B-1 funding, according to a regulatory filing. VentureWire reports that De Novo Ventures led the deal, and was joined by Latterell Venture Partners and return backers MedVenture Associates and Montreux Equity Partners. www.pulmonx.com
Carbonite Inc., a Boston-based provider of online backup services for consumers and small businesses, has raised $15 million in Series B funding. Menlo Ventures led the deal, and was joined by return backers 3i Group and Common Angels. www.carbonite.com
GTronix Inc., a Fremont, Calif.-based fabless IC manufacturer, has raised $10.25 million in Series C funding, according to a regulatory filing. Jafco Ventures was joined by return backer Menlo Ventures. www.GTronix.com
Project Goth (a.k.a. Mig33), a Burlingame, Calif.-based provider of mobile phone-based communications services, has raised $10 million in Series A funding. Accel Partners and Redpoint Ventures co-led the deal, and were joined by seed backer Technology Venture Partners. The company recently relocated from Australia. www.mig33.com
Purcell Systems Inc., a Spokane Valley, Wash.-based provider of backup power solutions for the broadband communications market, has secured $7.23 million of a $10 million Series B-2 round, according to a regulatory filing. Return backer Weston Presidio participated. Purcell raised $9.27 million in Series B funding back in mid-2005.www.purcellsystems.com
LeadPoint Inc., a Los Angeles-based online leads exchange marketplace, has called down $2.5 million of a $3.53 million Series D round, according to a regulatory filing. Backers include Redpoint Ventures, Estalea LP and Breakwater Ventures. www.leadpoint.com
VideoEgg Inc., a San Francisco-based provider of Web-based video publishing, has raised $3.48 million in additional Series C funding from an undisclosed investor based in Luxembourg, according to a regulatory filing. The company closed on a $12 million Series C tranche late last year from August Capital, First Round Capital and Maveron. www.videoegg.com
Hyperpia Inc., a Fremont, Calif.-based online gaming network, has raised around $3 million in SeriesC funding, according to a regulatory filing. BlueRun Ventures led the deal, with John Malloy taking a board seat. www.hyperpia.com
ProtAffin Biotechnologie AG, a Graz, Austria–based developer of anti-inflammatory therapeutics that act by targeting cell-surface glycan structures, has raised €2.65 million in Series A funding. Aescap Venture Management led the deal, and was joined by Z-Cube. ProtAffin was advised by Mummert & Co. Corporate Finance. www.protaffin.com
Fotressware Inc., a Los Altos Hills, Calif.-based provider of protection against IP and data loss, has secured around $2.5 million of a $3 million Series A round led by iD Ventures America, according to a regulatory filing. www.fortressw.com
Buyout Deals
Thoma Cressey Bravo has sponsored a recapitalization of Midwest Dental Holding Company Inc., a provider of dental practice management services with offices across the Midwest. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which resulted in TCB acquiring all Midwest Dental interests previously owned by Svoboda, Collins LLC. www.tcb.com www.midwest-dental.com
GS Capital Partners has completed its $17 per share buyout of insurance broker USI Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: USIH). The total transaction was valued at approximately $1.4 billion. www.gs.com www.usi.biz
Riverstone Holdings has completed its acquisition of majority stake in Dresser Inc., a Dallas-based manufacturer and marketer of products and services for energy industry and infrastructure applications. The selling shareholders were First Reserve and Odyssey Investment Partners, although First Reserve bought back a minority position as a partner in the Riverstone consortium – which also includes Lehman Brothers. No financial terms were disclosed. www.dresser.com
Littlejohn & Co. has agreed to acquire gourmet coffee company Van Houtte Inc. (TSX: VH) for Cdn$25 per share. The total enterprise value is approximately Cdn$600 million, including the assumption of indebtedness. CIBC World Markets advised Van Houtte on the transaction. www.vanhoutte.com
Gambro Holding AB, a joint portfolio company of EQT Partners and Investor, has agreed to sell its Gambro Healthcare dialysis center unit to Bridgepoint. No financial terms were disclosed, although news reports put the purchase price at over 600 million.
The Carlyle Group and engineering company Babcock are expected to submit final offers to acquire the Devonport submarine shipyard in Britain, according to The Guardian. First round bids for the shipyard – officially called Devonport Management Ltd. — were in the range of Gbp350 million. www.carlyle.com
EMI Group PLC has received takeover interest from One Equity Partners, Cerberus and Fortress, according to The Financial Times. The music publisher is expected to be valued at approximately $6 billion.
Nautic Partners has agreed to acquire a 67% stake in the Canada Cartage Diversified Income Fund (TSX: TRK.UN), a provider of dedicated trucking services. The total deal is valued Cdn$140 million, with Nautic to pay Cdn$11.30 per share. www.nauticpartners.com www.canadacartage.com
Hancock Park Associates has agreed to acquire the “open air” roof-systems and automotive design-services units of ASC Inc. No financial terms were disclosed. www.ascglobal.com www.hpcap.com
Battery Ventures has increased its takeover price for Quovadx Inc. (Nasdaq: QVDX) from $3.15 per share to $3.20 per share, for a revised transaction value of approximately $139.1 million. The deal includes: Quovadx’s ISD division, which provides enterprise solutions for hospitals, government entities and health plans; and its Rogue Software group, which provides reusable software components and services to professional developers application development. It will not include Quovadx’s CareScience division, which was sold in a separate transaction to Premier Inc. for $34.9 million. www.battery.com www.quovadx.com
Timothy’s Coffees of the World Inc., a Canadian coffee shop operator, has retained Piper Jaffray to explore a possible sale of the company, according to LBO Wire. The company is majority-owned by a husband-wife team, while the report added that both Bessemer Venture Partners and JPMorgan Partners were past investors. No word on if either firm remains a shareholder. www.timothys.ca
PE-Backed IPOs
ImaRx Therapeutics Inc., a Tucson, Ariz.-based drug company using nanotech therapies for stroke and cancer, has filed for a $27.86 million IPO. It had filed for a $75 million public offering last year, but later withdrew it due to “unfavorable market conditions.” The company now plans to offer three million common shares at between $6.50 and $7.50 per share, and trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol IMRX. Maxim Group is serving as lead underwriter. Edison Moore Healthcare Ventures holds a 4.8% pre-IPO ownership position. www.imarx.com
PE-Backed M&A
Carex Health Brands, a portfolio company of KCA Partners, has acquired Thera-Med Inc., a Waco, Texas-based maker of hot and cold packs for pain relief therapy. No financial terms were disclosed. www.thera-med.com www.kcapartners.com
PE Exits
Oaktree Capital Management has sold Millennium Rail Inc. to Watco Cos. for an undisclosed amount. Millennium Rail is a Westchester, Ill.-based provider of railcar repair and maintenance services. It was advised on the sale by Harris Williams & Co. www.millenniumrail.com
Firms & Funds
Leucadia Capital Partners has launched as a provider of private equity investment management and advisory services. Its three principals previously were with Pacific Corporate Group. They are: Monte Brem, Tom Keck and Jose Fernandez. Its initial clients are the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the Kuwait Investment Authority. www.leucap.com
Human Resources
Marshall Bartlett has joined Fisher Lynch Capital as a Boston-based managing director, who will focus on both co-investing and fund-of-funds activities. He previously was a partner with Parthenon Capital. www.fisherlynch.com
John Elton has joined venture capital firm MSBi Capital as a partner. He previously was a consultant to tech transfer office at McGill University. www.msbi.ca
Probitas Partners has hired Jonathan Jameson as a principal and promoted Jack Wills to principal. Jameson will work out of New York, and previously was a managing director with Rothschild Inc. Willis joined Probitas in November 2004 as a vice president on the project management team, after having previously been with Citigroup. www.probitaspartners.com
Eric Monsowitz has joined Seattle-based venture capital firm Maveron as a senior associate. He previously was a business development consultant with Vulcan Inc. www.maveron.com
Larry Bickle has resigned as principal and managing director of Haddington Ventures, in order to spend more time at a “company lever, mentoring young people.” He has agreed to sell his interests in Haddington and various affiliates back to the firm. www.hvllc.com
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