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Sonim Technologies Inc. , a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of IP-based wireless communications solutions, has raised $28 million in Series C funding. Accel Partners led the deal, and was joined by return backers Apax Partners, 3i Partners and BV Capital. www.sonimtech.com
Cebridge Connections, he St. Louis.-based cable operator formerly known as Classic Communications, has obtained commitments for up to $125 million in new equity and refinanced its debt with $350 million in new senior secured credit facilities. Most of the equity will come from Goldman Sachs Capital Partners , although Oaktree Capital Management will remain Cebridge’s controlling shareholder. www.cebridge.net
NuVox Inc. of Chesterfield, Mo., and NewSouth Holdings Inc. of Greenville, S.C. have agreed to merge. The combined CLEC will operate under the name NuVox Communications, and will provide its services across the southeast and Midwest. It anticipates annualized revenue exceeding $300 million. Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed.
NuVox has raised nearly $500 million in total VC funding since its 1997 inception, including a $200 million infusion in 2000 at a post-money valuation of approximately $783 million. In 2002, it secured around $66 million at a post-money valuation of just $97 million. NuVox investors include BA Venture Partners, Boston Millennia Partners, Brooks Investments, CIBC Wood Gundy Capital, Centennial Ventures, Flagship Ventures, GE Equity, Goldman Sachs, Key Principal Partners, JPMorgan Partners, Meritage Private Equity, Moore Capital, Norwest Equity Partners, Richland Ventures, TD Capital, Telecom Partners, Wachovia Corp. and Whitney & Co. NewSouth has raised around $350 million in VC funding since its 1997 inception, with investments coming from Carousel Capital Partners, J.P. Morgan Capital, KKR, M/C Venture Partners, Quadrangle Group, Tyco Capital, Vaxa Capital, AT&T Ventures and Wachovia Corp. www.nuvox.com
Infoblox Inc, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based provider of appliances for core network identity services, has raised $21 million in new VC funding. Lehman Brothers Venture Partners led the deal, with return backer Sequoia Capital also participating. The company now has raised approximately $30 million in VC funding, including a $7 million Series B round in spring 2003 at a post-money valuation of around $12 million. www.infoblox.com
Domantis Ltd., a Cambridge, Mass.-based drug discovery company, has raised $33 million in Series B funding. 3i Group led the deal, and was joined by fellow new investors Gray Ghost and Albany Ventures. Existing backers MVM and Peptech Ld. also participated. The company was valued at $51 million following its Series A funding round in April 2001. www.domantis.com
EYT and In2Gr8 have merged and raised $20 million in Series A funding. Investors included Mobius Venture Capital, Madrona Venture Group, Rustic Canyon Partners and Charterhouse Group. Both companies were Microsoft Business Solutions Partners for mid-market enterprises, and now will operate under the YET name with headquarters in Seattle. www.eyt.com
Apparent Networks, a Vancouver-based provider of network intelligence software, has received $2 million in VC funding from TELUS Corp. This is the company’s first round of institutional funding, but it has raised a total of $10.6 million from a variety of sources. www.apparentnetworks.com
Opalis Software Inc., a Toronto-based provider of software that automates IT operations, has raised Cdn$8.15 million (approx. US$6.06 million) in Series B funding. BDC Venture Capital led the deal, and was joined by VenGrowth and RoyNat Capital. www.opalis.com
Hudson Health Sciences Inc., a San Francisco-based biopharmaceutical company, has raised $4.7 million in private equity funding from undisclosed investors. www.hudson-health.com
HomeSphere Inc., a Golden, Colo.-based provider of solutions to the homebuilding industry, has raised $1 million in VC funding from Enhanced Capital Partners. www.HomeSphere.com
Alopa Networks Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based provider of operational support systems for cable and broadband service providers, has raised over $2.36 million in Series C-1 funding. www.alopanetworks.com
Willis Stein & Partners has acquired a majority interest in CompuPay Inc. , a privately held provider of outsourced payroll processing and related services to small businesses. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. www.compupay.com
SHPS Holdings Inc. , a Louisville, Ky.-based portfolio company of buyout firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe , has agreed to acquire National Health Services , a care management subsidiary of BCE Emergis (TSX: IFM). The deal is valued at $10 million, and is expected to close in early March. www.shps.net
Cray Inc. (Nasdaq: CRAY) has agreed to acquire OctigaBay Systems Corp., a Vancouver-based provider of high-performance computing (HPC) products. Under terms of the agreement, Cray will issue 12.7 million shares (valued at around $100 million as of yesterday’s market close), will pay slightly less than $15 million in cash and assume existing options. OctigaBay received $15 million in seed funding in January 2003, in a deal co-led by Celtic House Venture Partners and Ventures West. www.octigabay.com
Tekelec (Nasdaq: TKLC) has agreed to acquire Taqua Inc., a Richardson, Texas-based provider of Class 5 packet switching systems. The deal is worth approximately $85 million in cash, and is expected to close within 60 days. Taqua has raised over $120 million in total VC funding since its 1998 inception, with investments coming from Amerindo Investment Advisors, Bessemer Venture Partners, Bowman Capital, Charles River Ventures, Columbia Capital, Court Square Ventures, Dain Rauscher Corp., GATX Ventures, JPMorgan Partners, Pivotal Asset Management, Point Judith Capital, RRE Ventures, Soros Fund Management, Transamerica Technology Finance, Vulcan Inc. and Western Technology Investment. www.taqua.com
Optum Inc., a a White Plains, N.Y.-based provider of supply chain management software, has acquired V3 Systems Inc. , a Charlotte, N.C.-based provider of supply chain execution solutions. Financial terms of the all-stock transaction were not disclosed. Optum has raised approximately $42 million in VC funding from investors Cornerstone Equity Investors, Insight Venture Partners, Integral Capital Partners, Oak Investment Partners and UBS Capital Corp. V3 has raised over $11 million from Draper Atlantic Venture Fund, Sterling Partners and Spacevest. www.v3systems.com
Thom Rasche and Graham Lay have joined Germany-based venture firm Earlybird as venture partners. Rasche is the former managing director of Ethicon Endo-Surgery in Germany (a Johnson & Johnson company), while Lay is general manager of Nexan Inc. and previously served as president of research and design for Johnson & Johnson. www.earlybird.com
S.R. One Ltd., the corporate VC arm of GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), has promoted Max Gowen from vice president to managing partner and Kent Gossett from director of asset screening to principal. It also has added Rajeev Dadoo as an associate. www.srone.com
Jeff Sampson, a general partner with Viridian Capital Partners , was among those who plunked down $2,000 last night at a fund-raiser for President Bush in Charlotte, N.C.
Damon Asbury has been named executive director of the State Teachers’ Retirement System of Ohio, which manages a $122 million private equity portfolio. He had been serving as the system’s interim director since last August.
Anadys Pharmaceuticals Inc., a San Diego-based drug company focused on the treatment of Hepatitis C and bacterial infections, has set its IPO price range at $11-$13, and its number of shares offered to 6.25 million. The company originally filed for its IPO last November, and hopes to trade on the Nasdaq under proposed ticker symbol ANDS. The company has raised over $120 million in VC funding since its 1993 inception, with major shareholders including SG Cowen Securities, HBM BioVentures, Care Capital, Shire BioChem Inc. and Biomedicine LP. Other company backers have included Accel Partners, Advent International, Atlas Venture, CDP Capital-Technology Ventures, Coastview Capital, MPM Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Pacific Rim Ventures and Venrock Associates. www.anadyspharma.com
NEWS FROM WEDNESDAY 2/25
Aegera Therapeutics Inc., a Montreal, Canada-based biotech company specializing in oncology, has raised Cdn$20 million (approx. $15 million) in Series C funding. VenGrowth led the deal, and was joined by fellow new investor Fondaction CSN. Return backers included Desjardins Venture Capital, Genechem Therapeutics Venture Fund, Solidarity Fund QFL, T2C2/Bio 2000, Innovatech, Business Development Bank of Canada and GrowthWorks.
Diatos SA, a Paris, France-based biopharmaceutical companies that develops anti-cancer therapies, has raised ?7 million (approx. $8.8 million) in new funding. Innoven Partenaires and Biotech Fund Flanders co-led the deal, and were joined by return backers Credit Lyonnais Private Equity and NIF Ventures.
Brian Giblin has joined the McLean, Va.-based office of Edison Venture Fund as a business development manager. He most recently worked as the strategic business planning director with COMSAT Laboratories, and serves as director of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Washington-Baltimore.
Mark Klopp, managing director of Eastman Ventures (investment arm of Eastman Chemical Co.) has been named chairman of the CVG advisory board. CVG is the recently-established corporate venture group of the National Venture Capital Association.
Hamilton Lane has formed a new subsidiary in Singapore. It will be run by Alain Vanderborne, served from 1990-1997 as head of international development for The Suez Group, and from 1998-2000 as executive director and CFO of Vivendi Universal?s Asia-Pacific region. He currently is head of the Singapore Venture Capital Association and co-chair of the Asia Pacific Venture Capital Alliance.
Meagher Dunn Capital introduced itself yesterday as a new investment banking firm focused on the domestic energy sector.
Dot Hill Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: HILL) has completed its acquisition of Chaparral Network Storage Inc., a Longmont, Colo.-based provider of specialized storage applications and mid-range RAID controllers and data routers. The aggregate acquisition price was approximately $62 million and the assumption of approximately $10.4 million in specified obligations. Chaparral?s revenue for the nine months ending Dec. 31, 2003 was $8.7 million. Chaparral raised around $44 million in VC funding, with investments coming from Athenian Ventures, Aweida Capital Management, Belgravia Venture Partners, Celerity Partners and GMG Capital Partners.
Bessemer Venture Partners and Commonwealth Capital have acquired outstanding shares in BuyerZone.com Inc., a Watertown, Mass.-based provider of online B2B purchasing services. The company did not disclose the investment size, but told Mass High Tech that the two firms now are majority shareholders. BuyerZone.com previously had raised around $22 million in VC funding from Commonwealth, BancBoston Ventures, Flagship Ventures, UBS Capital and the Women?s Growth Capital Fund.
Orbcomm LLC, a Dulles, Va.-based provider of global satellite telecom services, has raised $26 million in private equity funding. Investors included OHB Technology AG, SES Global SA, Ridgewood Capital and Northwood Ventures.
WindLogics Inc. (fka SSESCO), a St. Paul, Minn.-based provider of modeling services for assessing and managing wind energy resources, has raised $2.275 million in Series B funding. Altira led the deal, and was joined by fellow new investor St. Paul Capital Fund and return backers AAVIN Venture Capital and StarTec Investments.
Silver Acquisition Corp. has agreed to acquire Gold Banc Corp. (Nasdaq : GLDB) for approximately $672 million in cash. Silver will pay $16.60 per share of outstanding Gold Banc common stock, which represents a 16% premium over yesterday?s closing price of $14.32 per share. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Silver Acquisition was formed by an investor group led by C. Stanley Bailey (former chairman and CEO of Superior Financial Corp.), and which also included The Cypress Group and DLJ Merchant Banking.
Kinetic Concepts Inc. (NYSE: KCI) closed its first day of trading at $40.40, after previously pricing its IPO at $30 per share. Company shareholders include Fremont Partners, Blum Capital Partners, DLJ Merchant Banking and Goldman Sachs.
Candover and Legal & General Ventures, both UK private equity firms, have sold their combined 28% stake in Bourne Leisure Group Ltd. back to the company for an undisclosed sum.
Avant Medical Corp. of San Diego has raised around $1.7 million in Series A funding led by Crabtree Partners.
NEWS FROM TUESDAY 2/24
AlgoRX Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cranbury, N.J.-based drug company focused on pain management, has raised $65 million in Series C funding. Advent International led the deal, and Advent partner Charles Cohen will join the AlgoRX board of directors. Other new investors on the round included S.R. One Ltd., Pacific Rim Ventures, Index Ventures, Lehman Brothers Healthcare Fund, Hunt Ventures, EGS Healthcare Capital Partners, Piper Jaffray Ventures, NIF Ventures, Axiom Venture Partners, Cogene BioTech Ventures and William Harris Investors. Return backers InterWest Partners, JPMorgan Partners and Sofinnova Ventures also participated. Aquilo Partners acted as the round’s placement agent. www.algorx.com
Oaktree Capital Management has led a $125 million control equity investment in Spirit Airlines Inc. , a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based discount airline carrier. Merrill Lynch & Co. served as Spirit’s exclusive financial advisor and placement agent on the transaction. www.spiritair.com
Sauresh Srivastava, chairman of the Indian Venture Capital Association , told Reuters that VC disbursements to India-based companies rose 31% to $774 million in 2003, and is poised to top $1 billion in 2004.
Covaro Networks Inc., a Richardson, Texas-based provider of simplified Ethernet services deployment for carriers, has raised $25.3 million in Series B funding at a post-money valuation of just over $60 million. Centennial Ventures led the deal, and was joined by return backers CenterPoint Ventures, InterWest Partners and Sevin Rosen Funds. The company had previously raised a $16.7 million Series A deal at a post-money valuation of around $27 million. www.covaro.com
NeurogesX Inc., a San Carlos, Calif.-based drug company focused on the treatment of neuropathic pain, has raised $35 million in Series C funding. Global Life Science Ventures led the deal, and was joined by fellow new investor Diamond Capital Management, which serves as an agent for the Dow Employees’ Pension Plan and the Union Carbide Employees’ Pension Plan. Return backers included Alta Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, Montreaux Equity Partners, Walden International, TIAA-CREF and the University of North Carolina. The company now has raised approximately $65 million in total VC funding. www.neurogesx.com
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a number of private equity firms are interested in bidding on the potential sale of Stamford, Conn.-based rural telephone company Citizens Communications Co. (NYSE: CZN). The article names Carlyle Group, Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. as likely suitors.
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) has agreed to acquire Aton Pharma Inc. , a Tarrytown, N.Y.-based biotech company focused on the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. No financial terms of the acquisition were disclosed. Aton Pharma has raised around $50 million of VC funding since its 2000 inception, with investors including FSMC Partners, HealthCare Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp. and Perseus-Soros Management Co. www.atonpharma.com
Jeff Crowe has been named a venture partner with Norwest Venture Partners, after having served as the Palo Alto, Calif.-based firm’s CEO-in-residence. Prior to joining Norwest, Crowe was president and COO of privately held auction firm DoveBid Inc. He also co-founded and ran Edify Corp. www.nvp.com
George Everhart has joined Crescendo Ventures as an operating partner. He is the former CEO of Fujitso PC Corp., and also served as senior vice president of worldwide sales and service at 3COM. He will work with Crescendo’s enterprise infrastructure group, and already is serving as CEO of Crescendo portfolio company ScaledMedia. www.crescendoventures.com
America’s Growth Capital has added Drew Peck as a semiconductor research analyst and Michael Weston as a senior sales trader. Peck previously served as managing director and head of semiconductor research as SG Cowen Securities and, most recently, as a partner at Crimson Ventures. Weston comes to America’s Growth Capital from Bass Brothers 646 Advisors, where he was the head trader.
Animas Corp., a Frazier, Pa.-based provider of external insulin injection pumps for diabetics, has filed to raise $69 million via an IPO on the Nasdaq under proposed ticker symbol PUMP. The company has raised over $45 million in total VC funding since its 1998 inception, with investors including HLM Management Co., Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., Liberty Venture Partners, Pilgrim, Baxter & Associates, Bank of America and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. www.animascorp.com
Kinetic Concepts Inc., a San Antonio-based med-tech company focused on wound care and therapeutic surfaces, will begin trading on the Nasdaq today under ticker symbol KCI. The company priced 18 million shares of common stock at $30 per share (above its $27-$29 offering range), for a total IPO take of $540 million. Company shareholders include Fremont Partners, Blum Capital Partners, DLJ Merchant Banking and Goldman Sachs. www.kci1.com
Noveon International Inc., a Cleveland-based provider of specialty chemicals for consumer and industrial applications, has filed to raise $345 million via an IPO of common stock on the NYSE under proposed ticker symbol NOV. The company had originally filed for a $345 million IPO in July 2002, but withdrew the offering last May due to unfavorable market conditions. The company is majority-owned by DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, with other significant shareholders including MidOcean Partners and AEA Investors. www.noveoninc.com
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., a Shanghai, China-based chipmaker, has set its IPO price range at $15.50-$17.50 per American Depository Shares, and set its number of shares to just over 86.36 million. The company plans to go public on the NYSE under proposed ticker symbol SMI, and has raised VC funding from investors like H&Q Asia Pacific, Walden International and Motorola. www.smics.com
Xantrex Technology Inc., a Vancouver, Canada-based power electronic and control products for converting alternative energy, has filed to go public via an IPO on the Canadian markets. RBC Capital Markets is the lead manager and bookrunner for the offering, while CIBC World Markets and UBS Securities Canada are co-lead managers of the underwriting syndicate. www.xantrex.com
NEW FROM MONDAY 2/23
Windspeed Ventures of Lexington, Mass. has agreed to manage the venture capital portfolio of Comdisco Holding Co., which emerged from bankruptcy protection in August 2002 with a mandate to liquidate all remaining assets. Comdisco had originally planned to sell its entire portfolio of the secondary market, but ultimately opted for the portfolio management agreement with Winspeed. Under the terms of this agreement, Windspeed will provide capital for follow-on investments, management expertise and administrative support to maximize the overall value of the portfolio. Windspeed will be paid a management fee and participate in the realized value of the assets. Comdisco had invested around $800 million into a direct venture capital and warrant portfolio that currently includes over 250 companies across a variety of industry sectors. www.windspeed.com
Y’s Therapeutics Co. Ltd., a Tokyo-based biotech company, has raised 2.4 billion yen (approx. $22 million) in Series B funding. Softbank Investment Corp. led the deal, and was joined by Zenkoku HoshoCo. Ltd. and Biovision Capital Corp. www.ysthera.com
AlpInvest Partners (fka NIB Capital Private Equity) has agreed to acquire German auto components company EMPE Holding GmbH from CVC Partners and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. EMPE is the parent company of companies operating under the trade name Novem, which focuses on interior trim products. The deal is worth approximately ?200 million, and is expected to close at the end of March.
UbiNetics, a UK-based supplier of 3G mobile communications technology, has raised $26 million in new VC funding led by 3i Group. The company was formed in 1999 as a spinout from PA Consulting Group. www.ubinetics.com
Layer N Networks Inc., an Austin, Texas-based provider of network security solutions, has raised $20 million in Series B funding. New investors included Technology Associates Management Co., Private Capital Partners and Stafford Investments, while return backers included Granite Ventures, Austin Ventures, Seed Capital Partners, Convergent Investors and Agave Capital. www.layern.com
Talbus Inc., a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of intellectual property protection solutions, has raised $7 million in Series A funding led by Menlo Ventures. www.tablus.com
Graffinity Pharmaceuticals AG, a Heidelberg, Germany-based biopharmaceutical company, has raised ?15 million in Series C funding. Merlin Biosciences led the deal, and was joined by return backers 3i Group, Oxford Bioscience Partners, GIMV, Heidelberg Innovation, Dow Chemical Co. and TechnoStart. New investor Carnegie Asset management also participated. www.graffinity.com
CombineNet Inc., a Pittsburgh-based provider of analytical software for strategic sourcing and resource projects, has raised $12 million in Series C funding. Advanced Technology Ventures led the deal, and was joined by return backers Apex Ventures, eCentury Capital Partners and Revolution Ventures. The company now has raised around $20 million in venture capital funding since its 2000 inception, including a $6 million Series B deal in 2002 at a post-money valuation of approximately $16 million. www.combinenet.com
CoreStreet Ltd., a Somerville, Mass.-based provider of enterprise security software, has raised $8.5 million in new venture capital funding. The deal was co-led by new investor Updata Partners and return backer POD Holding. CoreStreet now has raised $14 million in total VC funding since its 2001 inception. www.corestreet.com
Falconhead Capital has acquired National Powersport Auctions, a Poway, Calif.-based auction company focused on the power-sport industry. No financial terms of the transaction were disclosed, except that Madison Capital provided senior debt financing and also took an equity stake. www.npauctions.com
Behrman Capital has completed a $120 million high-yield dividend recap for WII Components Inc., the parent company of Behrman portfolio company Woodcraft Industries Inc.
CIENA Corp. has agreed to acquire Internet Photonics Inc., a Shrewsbury, N.J.-based supplier of carrier-grade optical Ethernet transport and switching solutions. The all-stock transaction is valued at approximately $150 million, and is expected to close by the end of CIENA’s third fiscal quarter of 2004. Internet Photonics had raised over $75 million in venture capital funding since its 2000 inception. Shareholders included Sprout Group, TeleSoft Partners, AT&T Corp., ComVentures and New Venture Partners. www.internetphotonics.com
Blackbaud Inc., a Charlestown, S.C.-based provider of software and computer training for the nonprofit community, has filed to raise $115 million via an IPO of common stock on the Nasdaq under proposed ticker symbol BLKB. The company is majority-owned by Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners.www.blackbaud.com
Brian Bean, former co-head of corporate finance at Robertson Stephens, has been named managing director and head of technology banking at Santa Monica, Calif.-based Montgomery & Co. www.monty.com
Stephen Bradley has been named president and CEO of Revonet Inc., a New Canaan, Conn.-based provider of b-to-b sales lead solutions. He joined the company seven months ago as chief marketing officer, after leaving an investment position with Key Principal Partners. www.revonet.com
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