Private Equity Week Wire for Wednesday 3/27

MILAN, ITALY – BioXell SpA announced its official launch today at a press conference in Milan. The firm combines extensive industry experience with a competitive edge in immunology and aims to become a leading research and development biopharmaceutical company in the field. BioXell is off to a fast start with two strong technology platforms and products entering clinical trials. The company has closed its first round of financing, totalling EUR22 million through a consortium of three top tier venture capital firms; MPM Capital, Index Ventures and Life Sciences Partners.

BioXell, formed through a spinout from Roche Milano Ricerche will be led by Francesco Sinigaglia MD, as Chief Executive Officer and co-founder. In 1992, Dr Sinigaglia founded and became the scientific director of Roche Milano Ricerche, a Roche institute focusing on chronic inflammatory diseases and autoimmunity. His co-founders are Luciano Adorini MD, Chief Scientific Officer, currently Vice President of the Italian Society for Immunology, and Michael Steinmetz PhD, General Partner of MPM Capital who joins as Chairman of the Board.

EVANSTON, IL — Motorola Ventures, the strategic venture capital investment arm of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), is announcing the first round of funding in DevLab One Inc., a software startup formed as part of Northwestern University’s Information Technology Development Laboratory (DevLab). Motorola’s investment is part of the ongoing support of the DevLab, a center within the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, whose mission is to turn promising University research prototypes into complete and robust products, utilizing Motorola expertise to support the development and deployment of software technologies for commercial use. DiamondCluster International, Inc. (Nasdaq: DTPI), a Chicago-based business strategy and technology solutions firm, will provide in-kind support including strategic direction, technical skills, and program management resources.

NEW HYDE PARK, — . Morton’s Restaurant Group Inc. (NYSE: MRG) announced today that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement providing for the acquisition of Morton’s by an affiliate of Castle Harlan, Inc., a New York based private equity investment firm. Under the terms of the agreement, Morton’s stockholders will receive $12.60 in cash for each share of common stock. The purchase price represents a 9.1% premium over yesterday’s closing price of $11.55 and a 26.2% premium over the average closing price of Morton’s stock for the last 20 trading days.

Following completion of the merger, Morton’s will continue to be headquartered in New Hyde Park, New York, and the current management team will operate Morton’s as a private company. Morton’s owns and operates 61 Morton’s of Chicago Steakhouse restaurants and 4 Bertolini’s Authentic Trattoria restaurants.

NEW YORK — The Cypress Group, a New York-based private equity firm, announced today that it has named Jonathan F. Foster a Managing Director of the firm and a Member of the Investment Committee. Prior to joining Cypress, Jon Foster, 41, was a Senior Managing Director in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., where he led the industrial products and services effort. Mr. Foster served as Executive Vice President – Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Toysrus.com during 2000, where his responsibilities included logistics, planning, customer service, finance, human resources and special projects. He was a key member of the team that built Toysrus.com into a leading e-commerce company and completed a unique strategic alliance between the company and Amazon.com.

FT. LAUDERDALE, FL — ProxyMed Inc. (Nasdaq:PILL), a leading provider of physician healthcaretransaction processing services, announced today it has entered into a $25million equity financing transaction with General Atlantic Partners, a leadingglobal private equity investment firm focused exclusively on informationtechnology businesses. The cash proceeds will substantially strengthen theCompany’s cash balance and facilitate an accelerated growth strategy, bothinternally and through acquisitions.
MENLO PARK, CA — Mohr, Davidow Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm recognized by entrepreneurs for its hands-on guidance, today announced that Don Jaworski has joined the firm as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR), a role that enables him to apply his extensive knowledge of network equipment, security and systems software in pursuit of new business opportunities.

Prior to joining MDV, Jaworski was senior vice president of product development at Cache Flow. Before that, he served as general manager of Internet Security Platforms at Nokia Internet Communications (following Nokia’s acquisition of Ipsilon Networks). In that position he and his team built a business that generated more than $100 million in annual revenue. At Ipsilon Networks, Don led the team that delivered the industry’s first IP-switching platform. He also served at one time as senior vice president of engineering at The 3DO Company as well as holding a number of engineering management roles at Sun Microsystems and Amdahl Corporation.

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