Bain Capital Ventures has quietly closed its fourth fund with $525 million in capital commitments. The Boston-based firm also has hired John Connolly, former CEO of Institutional Shareholder Services, as an operating partner focused on portfolio company management. A few notes:
Fund: This vehicle comes in a bit larger than its $500 million predecessor (raised in 2007), but below the $750 million cap that BCV had listed in a regulatory filing last February. Unclear if BCV aimed for $750m and failed, or reevaluated due to: (a) The hellish fundraising environment, and (b) A realization that the current market has better early-stage opportunities than later-stage ones (BCV is stage-agnostic).
What we are seeing right now is that later-stage, profitable growth companies are getting expensive very quickly, which means we’re probably looking at a higher mix of early-stage companies,” says BCV managing director Michael Krupka. “We’re also seeing that the pub! lic markets have opened up to some degree, and strategic buyers have become more acquisitive.”
I tried to get Krupka to give some insight into a possible LinkedIn IPO, but he wouldn’t bite. Smart man.
Connolly: This hire is reflective of BCV sharing a name, history and office space with buyout giant Bain Capital. The latter began hiring senior portfolio operating pros 15 years ago, and now has nearly 50 of them around the globe.
BCV is dipping its toe into that water, asking Connolly to work intensively with certain of its portfolio companies. The first is EDGAR Online, the publicly-traded financial reporting company that last week sold $12 million worth of convertible stock to BCV. Connolly has joined the EDGAR Online board, and is working on various issues with its CEO. He also is listed as a partner on the new fund.
*** Last Thursday I moderated a media investing panel, which included buyout pros Rich Zannino of CCMP Capital and! Andy Ballard of Hellman & Friedman. When the conversation turned to social media, I asked if either of them think buyout pros should follow their VC peers in using social media to build personal brands (via blogs, Twitter, etc.). Their consensus answer was negative.
*** Snuck a peek at Undercover Boss last night, after my Super Bowl partiers had departed. Sure it was saccharine and manipulative (Extreme Makeover, CEO Edition?), but it did make me hope that CBS tries to get a PE big to participate. Paging messrs Black, Kravis and Schwarzman… Your small screen moment has arrived.
*** Last week I rode with a particularly assertive cab driver, and realized that I’ve never seen a taxi crash in New York City. Not saying they haven’t happened, but shouldn’t they be commonplace? Pretty sure that I wince at least once per every three fares.
*** Where in the World: Sticking around the home office this week, but then will be in San Francisco on Feb 14 to moderate panels at The Future of Funding event and in Beaver Creek the following week for VC in the Rockies. Hope to see some of you around country…
Top Three
Walt Disney Co. and Google are in talks to buy between a 30% and 40% stake in Bus Online, a Chinese in-bus digital media and advertising company, according to Reuters. The deal would be worth more than $100 million. Bus Online has raised around $80 million in VC funding from IDG Venture Capital, Yangtze Fund, China Renaissance Capital Investment and CCB International.
American Tire Distributors Holdings Inc., a Huntersville, N.C.-based replacement tire distributor, has filed for a $230 million IPO. It plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol ATD, with BoA Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank Sercurities serving as co-lead underwriters. The company reports around $1.65 billion in revenue for the nine months ending Oct. 3, 2009 — up slightly from the $1.5 billion in revenue from the similar period in 2008.ATD shareholders include Investcorp, Berkshire Partners and Greenbrier Equity Partners. www.atd-us.com
Alberto Vilar, co-founder of defunct Amerindo Investment Advisers, w! as sentenced to nine years in prison, after being found guilty la st fall of defrauding investors.
VC Deals
Essex Woodlands Health Ventures has committed up to $50 million for the formation of White Pine Medical, a growth equity acquisition platform focused on the medical device sector. White Pine will be led by Dan Lemaitre, former president and CEO of CoreValve (acquired by Medtronic in April 2009).
PatientSafe Solutions, a San Diego-based provider of patient safety and workflow management solutions, has raised $30 million in new VC funding led by TPG Biotechnology Partners, according to VentureWire. The company previously raised over $40 million, from firms that include Menlo Ventures, Psilos Group, J.F. Shea & Co., American River Ventures and Shoreline Venture Management. www.patientsafesolutions.com
Nautilus Neurosciences Inc., a Bridgewater, N.J.-based drug startup focused on neurology, has raised around $14.49 million in Series A funding led by Tailwind Capital Partners, according to a regulatory filing. www.nautilusneurosciences.com
Compliance11 Inc., a Chicago-based provider of regulatory compliance management solutions, has raised $6 million in Series B funding. Talon Capital Partners and KVG Partner! s co-led the round.
AMEE, developer of a platform for aggregating energy consumption data, has raised $5.5 million in Series B funding. Amadeus Capital Partners led the round, and was joined by return backers O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and Union Square Ventures.
Atacama Labs Oy, a Finnish specialty pharma company that has developed a pneumatic dry granulation method, has raised €2.3 million in new VC funding. No investor information was disclosed.
Buyouts Deals
Aleris International Inc., a bankrupt maker of rolled aluminum products, has proposed a reorganization plan that would leave it in the hands of lenders Oaktree Capital Management, Apollo Management and Sankaty Advisors. TPG Capital had acquired Aleris in 2006 for $3.3 billion, including $849 million in equity.
Bridgepoint has acquired LGC, a UK-based forensics and scientific testing company, from LGV Capital. The deal was valued at £257 million.
SFW Capital Partners has acquired Agdata, a provider of data and analytics to agricultural and animal health manufacturers. No pricing terms were disclosed for the deal, which was done in partnership with company management. Golub Capital provided leveraged financing.
PE-Backed IPOs
BSN Medical, a German bandage-maker owned by Montagu Private Equity, has retained Morgan Stanley to advise on a possible €2 billion floatation. A sale to strategic or financial players also remains possible.
International Mining Machinery Holdings Ltd., a Chinese maker of coal-mining equipment, has raised HK$2.54 billion ($327 million) in a Hong Kong IPO. The stock is scheduled tobegin trading on February 10. IMM was formed in 2006 by The Jordan Co., in order to acquire Jixi Coal Mining Machinery Co. and Jiamusi Coal Mining Machinery Co.
Medica, a French care homes operator backed by AXA Private Equity and BC Partners, priced its €275 million IPO at €13 per share. It had been seeking between €16 and €19 per share.
PE-Backed M&A
ANXeBusiness Corp., a Southfield, Mich.-based provider of networking and security managed services, has acquired S2S Communications, a provider of enterprise broadband and managed network infrastructure services. No financial terms were disclosed. ANXeBusiness is a portfolio company of One Equity Partners.
PE Exits
Affinity Equity Partners has hired Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, to advise on options for Australian pallet maker Loscam. A public listing is possible, while a sale would come with a minimum asking price of around A$500 million.
Brantley Partners has agreed to sell Best Brands, a Minnetonka, Minn.-based bakery manufacturer, to CSM. The deal is valued at $510 million in cash.
Lloyds Banking Group is in talks to sell a control stake in its Integrated Finance group to private equity firms, according to a UK press report. Possible suitors include 3i Group, Advent International and Coller Capital.
Firms & Funds
CITIC Capital has closed its second China buyout fund with $925 million in capital commitments.
Triton Partners, a Germany-based buyout firm focused on the European middle markets, reportedly has closed its third fund with €2.25 billion in capital commitments. It had been targeting €2 billion.
Human Resources
John Thain, former CEO of Merrill Lynch, has been named CEO of commercial lender CIT Group Inc. He succeeds Peter Tobin, who had been serving in an interim capacity, and who will remain on CIT’s board of directors.
Renny DiPentima, former president and CEO of SRA International (NYSE: SRX) has joined Providence Equity Partners as a senior advisor. He will focus on the government information services sector, and serve on the board of Providence portfolio company Altegrity Inc.
John Thornton has joined Tregaron Capital as a partner, with a focus on the firm’s mezzanine debt business. He previously was a partner with Pacific Community Ventures and, before that, was a principal with American Capital Strategies.
Johan Reynaert has joined Capricorn Venture Partners as an investment manager on the firm’s cleantech team. He previously was with Belgium-based VC firm GIMV.
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