peHUB Wire: Monday, July 13, 2009

Today’s column didn’t quite come together in time. I’ll be lean and loquacious tomorrow (or at least loquacious)…

Top Three

Delphi Corp. said on Friday that it received no additional bids for the company, as part of a court-ordered auction to seek alternatives to an existing sale agreement with Platinum Equity.

Pandora, an Oakland-based online radio network, has raised $35 million in new VC funding led by Greylock. The company previously raised around $29 million from firms like Crosslink Capital, DBL Investors, Hearst Corp., Labrador Ventures, Selby Venture Partners and WaldenVC. Read more…

Keytone Ventures has closed its debut fund with $200 million in capital commitments. The China-focused firm’s principals are: Joe Zhou, formerly with KPCB China; Stella Jin, formerly with IDG-Accel China Growth Fund; and Peng Jin, also formerly with IDG-Accel China Growth Fund.

VC Deals

ConforMIS, a Burlington, Mass.-based developer of orthopedic implants, has raised $50 million in Series D funding led by Aeris Capital.

eHi Car Rental, a Shanghai-based car rental company, has raised $20 million in Series B funding. CDH Investments led the round, and was joined by Jafco Asia and return backer Qiming Venture Partners. The company previously raised $5 million.

QuickPlay Media Inc., a Toronto-based provider of mobile video management solutions, has raised US$12 million in Series D funding. GMP Securities led the round, and was joined by return backers General Catalyst Partners, JLA Ventures and Ventures West.

Definition 6, an Atlanta-based interactive marke! ting agency, has raised $15 million in private equity funding from Navigation Capital Partners.

Nanoradio AB, a Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of low-power WiFi solutions, has raised €12.5 million in new VC funding. Viking Venture and Creandum were joined by return backers Ferd Venture, Industrifonden, Innovacom, Nordic Venture Partners and Teknoinvest. The company previously raised over $56 million since 2004.

Teraco Data Environments Ltd., a provider of vendor-neutral colocation facilities in South Africa, has raised R50 million (US$6m) in Series B funding. Return backer Treacle Private Equity led the round, and was joined by Guy Will ner, co-founder and CEO of IXEurope.

Accuri Cytometers Inc., an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based developer of cell analysis systems, has raised $4 million in Series D funding. The InvestMichigan Program (co-managed by Credit Suisse) was joined by return backers Fidelity Biosciences, Flagship Ventures, Baird Venture Partners and Arboretum Ventures.

Apesoft, a Barcelona, Spain-based provider of business intelligence software, has raised $3.8 million in VC funding from Debaeque.

Finite Carbon Corp., a Wayne, Penn.-based forest carbon development company, has raised $2 million in Series A funding from TL Ventures. Th! e company’s president is Scott Nissenbaum, a former managing director with Novitas Capital (fka PA Early Stage Partners). www.finitecarbon.com

Transmex Systems International, a Singapore-based provider of tracking and sensing solutions for the knowledge management and security markets, has raised S$1.2 million (US$817k) insecond-round VC funding. Return backers include Sirius Angel Fund Pte Ltd. and Spring Seeds Capital.

iPeak Networks, an Ottawa-based networking technology startup, has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding led by Miralta Capital.

Vocollect Inc., a Pittsburgh-based provider of voice solutions for workforce management of mobile workers, has raised $15! million in growth equity funding from Riverside Partners, according t o a regulatory filing. The investment was previously disclosed, but without a dollar amount. www.vocollect.com

*** Venture Capital news updated all day at peHUB’s VC Channel ***

Buyouts Deals

Harrison Street Capital has acquired a majority stake in MCR LLC, a -based provider of program management services to the federal government. In related news, MCR has bought aeronautical and technical services consulting firm Aerodyne Inc. from Abraxas Corp. No financial terms for either transaction were disclosed.

MSouth Equity Partners has acquired BC Technical Inc., a West Jordan, Utah-based service provider to the nuclear medicine market. No financial terms were disclosed.

Hoku Scientific Inc. (Nasdaq: HOKU), a supplier of raw materials to the solar industry, said that it may explore a sale of the company. Hoku’s current market cap is approximately $48 million.

Kellwood Co., an apparel company taken private last year by Sun Capital Partners, may file for bankruptcy after failing to reach a debt restructuring agreement, according to The Street Journal.

Terra Firma Capital Partners reportedly has proposed a restructuring for troubled music group EMI, which would include up to a £300 million capital injection from existing EMI lender Citigroup.

Vattenfall is in exclusive talks to sell its German power grid to a group that includes the infrastructure private equity funds of Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Allianz. The deal is expected to be worth at least €500 million.

*** Buyouts news updated all day at peHUB’s Buyouts Channel ***

PE Exits

ArcLight Capital Partners said that it will oppose the $2 billion takeover of Venture Production (LSE: VPC) by Centrica (LSE: CNA). Also in opposition is Venture co-founder Larry Kinch. ArcLight and Kinch hold a combined 12.8% stake in Venture.

Microtune Inc. (Nasdaq: TUNE) has agreed to acquire Auvitek International Ltd., a Fremont, Calif.-based maker of ICs for the digital TV and multimedia convergence markets. The deal is valued at approximately $9 million in cash and stock. Auvitek has raised around $13 million in VC funding from firms like KLM Capital Group, Storm Ventures, VenGlobal Capital and Scale Venture Partners.

Firms & Funds

Multiples, an India-based private equity firm founded by former ICICI Venture chief Renuka Ramnath, is raising $500 million for its debut fund, according to the Economic Times. The fund already has between $150 million and $200 million in LP commitments.

Human Resources

Howard Yellen has joined Patriarch Partners as an executive vice president, and head of a newly-formed Defence and Intragency platform. Yellen is a retired brigadier general and previously was VP of business development for L-3 Communications.

Steven Mermelstein and David Wood have joined the healthcare team of Covington Associates as a managing director and vice president, respectively. They previously were with Ferghana Partners. Read more…

Timothy Donahue has stepped down as Asia-Pacific head of GSO Capital Partners, in order to rejoin JPMorgan as part of its leveraged loan and high-yield capital markets team in New York.