Private Equity Week Wire for Thursday 8/23

NORWALK, CONN. — webloyalty.com Inc. (www.webloyalty.com), which provides innovative subscription- based programs to customer-focused Web sites, announced today that it has raised $5 million in third round funding from Canaan Partners of Rowayton, Conn., BCI Partners of Teaneck, New Jersey, and webloyalty.com founders. The financing will be used to continue the company?s marketing efforts and increase sales initiatives.

NEW YORK — Atlantic Technology Ventures Inc. has been delisted from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market as of Thursday’s business open for not meeting the $1 minimum bid price requirement. In a press release Thursday, the venture capital company said it received a notice from Nasdaq on March 22.

In accordance with the Nasdaq rules, Atlantic Technology received a 90-day grace period, through June 20, during which to regain compliance. On June 27, Atlantic Technology requested a hearing that stayed the delisting. However, after submission of materials in support of Atlantic Technology’s position, the panel informed the company that its stock will be delisted.

Atlantic Technology’s shares will be eligible to trade on the over-the-counter Bulletin Board under the same symbol. Shares of the company last traded at $1 the week of June 15. Atlantic Technology’s stock closed Wednesday at $.31 on the SmallCap Market, down 7 cents, or 18.4%.

SAN FRANCISCO — CMEA Ventures closed on $163 million for its newest fund, CMEA Ventures Life Sciences 2000, L.P., “CMEA LS 2000.” CMEA LS 2000 is CMEA Ventures’ fifth fund under management, and its second fund with an exclusive focus on enabling technologies for the biotechnology industry.

CMEA LS 2000 limited partners include major corporations, financial institutions, foundations and private investors. Specific partners include CIBC, Compass Group International, DOW Chemical, IBM, Keyport Insurance and Alejandro Zaffaroni, among others. To date, CMEA LS 2000 has invested in 5 portfolio companies, including Genicon, Perlegen, Raven Biotechnologies, Syrrx and Tilligen. LOWELL, MASS. — Joseph Walkush, executive vice president of Strategic Initiatives (SAIC), and Herb Hribar, executive vice president and general manager of VeriSign Global Registry Services, joined NetNumber?s board of directors.

NetNumber, a leader in global electronic numbering services, announced significant minority investments by SAIC Venture Capital Corp., a subsidiary of Science Applications International Corporation, and by VeriSign, Inc., the leading provider of Internet trust services.

The funding will be used as a basis for further development, deployment and promotion of NetNumber’s electronic numbering services, which support voice-over-IP communications over converged networks. In addition, NetNumber will use the funds for general operations and growth as it becomes the first company to deploy a commercial electronic numbering application, which will go on line later this quarter. HAMILTON, N.J. — Yardville National Bancorp (YANB) completed a private equity offering, selling 808,192 shares of common stock for about $10.5 million to a limited number of investors.

In a press release Thursday, Yardville said it will use the proceeds to support growth, including strategic expansion into other markets. Shares of Yardville National Bancorp closed Wednesday on the Nasdaq Market at $14.02, up 13 cents, or 0.9%. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — Cerylid Biosciences and JBWere today announced the completion of a $9.9 million investment by the JBWere Private Equity Fund in the Australian drug discovery company, Cerylid Biosciences Limited.

To date the JBWere Private Equity Fund has made five investments, with Cerylid its first investment in a biotechnology company. The $9.9 million equity investment is indicative of the strength of Cerylid’s science and its strong commercial potential. Existing investors, Rothschild Bioscience Managers and CM Capital Investments (Coates Myer IIF), have also boosted their shareholdings in Cerylid bringing the total new capital raised to $11 million.

Cerylid Biosciences is a genomics-driven drug discovery company that combines its extensive gene discovery programs with a unique natural products library of close to 600,000 natural extracts. The company’s genomics programs focus on isolating genes for major human genetic diseases to develop validated drug targets. Cerylid also has a number of lead compounds isolated from its natural products library under development for cancer and inflammatory disorders.For yesterday’s Wire, click here