PE Week Wire, Nov. 3, 2006

Running a bit behind schedule, but since I’d hate to leave you with nothing…

Yesterday I asked you to name the Boston-area VC firm that is launching a sponsored growth equity fund. My hint was to “look up.” OK, apparently not a great hint – since none of you got it right.

The correct answer is North Bridge Venture Partners, the venerable Waltham, Mass.-based firm that has made its bones on early-stage investments. The new fund will be run by former Advent International partners Doug Kingsley and Mike Pehl, and already has begun marketing itself to existing North Bridge limited partners. I haven’t yet been able to nail down the official fund target, but it’s not expected to net more than the $500 million that North Bridge raised last year for its sixth early-stage fund.

Kingsley is the former co-head of Advent’s North American deals team, and officially left last December. Pehl helps run a technology VC practice that Advent began phasing out a while back. Both Pehl and fellow Advent group leader Leigh Michl will continue to manage the existing fund portfolio to its natural conclusion – but neither will be fulltime Advent pros going forward (although they both are on the Advent website, as of this morning). No word yet on where Michl is headed.

“Growth Equity” means different things to different people, but I’m told that the North Bridge effort likely will focus on both control and non-control deals that involve equity contributions of between $20 million and $50 million. You also could see some PIPEs or other alternative structures.

Neither North Bridge nor Advent returned calls requesting comment… Have a great weekend, and I’ll be back next week with the launch of “Big New Project.” (reminder: If you want to be an advertiser on opening day, email me this morning)

Top Three

Innophos Holdings Inc., a Cranbury, N.J.-based specialty phosphates company, priced around 8.7 million common shares at $12 per share ($14-$16 range), for an IPO take of approximately $104.4 million. It will trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol IPHS, while Bear Stearns and Credit Suisse served as co-lead underwriters. Bain Capital acquired Innophos in 2004 from Rhodia for $550 million. www.innophos.com

Warburg Pincus has reached an agreement with First Data International (NYSE: FDC) to buy German transaction processing company EasyCash. No financial terms were disclosed. When First Data acquired GZS Gesellschaft für Zahlungssysteme GmbH in June, the FCO stipulated that GZS divest EasyCash to a third party as part of the merger control clearance. www.warburgpincus.com www.firstdata.com

Ardian Inc., a Menlo Park, Calif.-based developer of a medical device to treat congestive heart failure, has raised around $10.08 million in Series B-1 funding, according to a regulatory filing. Return backers include WS Investment Co. was joined by return backers Advanced Technology Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures and St. Paul Venture Capital.

VC Deals

Ardian Inc., a Menlo Park, Calif.-based developer of a medical device to treat congestive heart failure, has raised around $10.08 million in Series B-1 funding, according to a regulatory filing. Return backers include WS Investment Co. was joined by return backers Advanced Technology Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures and St. Paul Venture Capital.

EyeGate Pharma, a Paris, France–based drug company focused on a technology to non-invasively deliver therapeutics for ocular indications, has raised $10 million in Series B funding. Innoven Partenaires led the deal, and was joined by Ventech. www.eyegatepharma.com

Collegium Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cumberland, R.I.-based developer of late-stage drugs that add market value and clinical benefit to existing products, has raised $5.5 million in Series C funding, according to a regulatory filing. Backers include Boston Millennia Partners and Westfield Capital Management. www.collegiumpharma.com

Ugenie, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based online shopping engine, has raised $5 million in first-round funding from BlueRun Ventures and Sierra Ventures. www.ugenie.com

PBWiki, a San Bruno, Calif.-based wiki hosting company, has raised $350,000 from angel group Seraph and Ron Conway, according to VentureBeat. www.pbwiki.com

Buyout Deals

EQT Partners has agreed to acquire Danish furniture manufacturer Bodilsen AS for approximately $171 million from Bodilsen Holding AS, a company listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. www.eqt.se

The Jordan Co. has agreed to acquire Reinhold Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: RNHDA) for $12.50 per share, or an aggregate value of approximately $41.3 million. Reinhold Industries is a Santa Fe, N.M.-based manufacturer of custom composite components and sheet molding compounds. It was advised on the deal by TM Capital. www.thejordancompany.com www.reinhold-ind.com

PE-Backed IPOs

OrbComm Inc., a Ft. Lee, N.J.-based operator of a commercial wireless messaging system for narrowband communications, priced 9.2 million common shares at $11 per share ($12-$14 range), for an IPO take of $101.2 million. It will trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol ORBC, while UBS and Morgan Stanley served as co-lead underwriters. The company has raised around $105 million in VC funding from firms like Pacific Corporate Group, Ridgewood Capital, SES Global Participations and Northwood Ventures. www.orbcomm.com

U.S. Auto Parts Network Inc., a Carson, Calif.-based provider of aftermarket auto parts, has filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol PRTS, with RBC Capital Markets and Thomas Weisel Partners serving as co-lead underwriters. Oak Investment Partners holds a 30.4% pre-IPO stake. www.usautoparts.net

Otis Spunkmeyer Inc., a San Leandro, Calif.-based cookie company, has withdrawn registration for a proposed $230 million IPO. The company says that it instead has reached a merger agreement with Ireland-based IAWS Group. Otis Spunkmeyer has been controlled by Code, Hennessey & Simmons since August 2002, with CIBC and Goldman Sachs holding minority positions. www.spunkmeyer.com

ACA Capital Holdings Inc., a New York-based specialty finance company focused on asset management services and credit protection products, has reduced the number of shares being offered in its IPO from 12.2 million to around 10.78 million. It still plans to price the shares at between $15 and $17 per share. Credit Suisse, JPMorgan and Bear Stearns are serving as co-lead underwriters. Shareholders include Bear Stearns Merchant Banking, Stephens Group and Aegon USA. www.aca.com

PE-Backed M&A

The HealthCentral Network, an Arlington, Va.-based online provider of health and wellness information, has acquired The FoodFit Co., operator of a nutrition and active lifestyle website. No financial terms were disclosed. HealthCentral Network has raised around $36 million in VC funding from Carlyle Venture Partners, Polaris Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital. FoodFit was backed by Walker Ventures. www.thehealthcentralnetwork.com

PE Exits

Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) has acquired San Francisco-based revenue and operations management software company SPL WorldGgroup from GFI Energy Ventures. No financial terms were disclosed. www.oracle.com www.splwg.com

Firms & Funds

Zurich Alternative Asset Management has been formed to manage the alternative holdings – hedge funds, buyout funds, venture capital funds, mezzanine funds and U.S. real estate funds – of Zurich Financial Services. Its private equity team will be headed up by Jim Kester, who previously was co-head of Allianz Private Equity Partners. www.zurich.com

L1 is launching as a Seattle-based hedge fund, to be managed by: Rich Barton, CEO of Zillow.com and a Benchmark Capital venture partners; Nick Hanauer, co-founder of Second Avenue Partners and J.D. Delafield, CEO of Delafield Hambrecht. The news was first reported by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Fulbright & Jaworski LLP is opening an office in Beijing, which will focus on cross-border transactional work – plus energy, project finance and dispute practices involving China. www.fulbright.com

Human Resources

Filip Rensky and Teresa Teague have joined the financial sponsors group at Banc of America Securities as managing directors. They previously had been with Goldman Sachs. www.bankofamerica.com

Kathleen O’Donnell has left Advent International, where she had been a partner. www.adventinternational.com

Sami Hamade and Darren Hite have joined Aberdare Ventures as a healthcare-focused partner and associate, respectively, according to VentureWire. Hamade is a former vice president with Guidant Corp., while Hite was an analyst with Robertson Stephens. www.aberdare.com

Nigel Hammond is leaving Montagu Private Equity, according to Private Equity Online. He had served as head of UK and Nordic activities. www.montaguequity.com