Private Equity Week Wire for Wednesday 8/22

SAN FRANCISCO — PRN Corp., the parent company of Premier Retail Networks, Inc. (PRN), today announced that it has closed a $35 million round of private equity funding led by The Shamrock Capital Growth Fund, L.P., GE Capital, and Allen&Company Incorporated. Proceeds from the round will be used to expand the Company’s reach within existing leading retailers that include Wal-Mart, SAM’s Club, Sears, Circuit City, Best Buy and Footaction USA, and to continue expansion of its networks. PRN is the world’s largest retail media network.MONTREAL — Investissement Desjardins and investment firm Montreal Partners have teamed up to inject a total of $7.0-million, or $3.5- million each in 20-20 Technologies, the world leader in interior design software. The funding will serve mainly to add new e-commerce functions to the digital platform developed by 20-20, as well as to increase company’s profile and market penetration in Europe, South America and Asia.

In addition, the investment will allow 20-20 Technologies to consolidate its recent purchase of three U.S. companies in the commercial sector, Facet Inc. (now 20-20 Giza Inc.), Intellicon Inc. (now 20-20 Intellicon Inc.) and E- furn inc. With these acquisitions 20-20 Technologies has become the world leader in the field of interior design computer aided sales software, not only for the residential sector but also for the commercial sector, including offices and commercial buildings.JERUSALEM — ForeScout Technologies Inc., a developer of network security products, said Wednesday that it has raised $12 million in a first institutional funding round from Accel Partners and Pitango Venture Capital. Executive Chairman Hezy Yeshuran said ForeScout will use the money for market penetration and product development. The company has a research and development center in Tel Aviv and is setting up headquarters in the U.S.LONDON — International Biotechnology Trust has invested $5m in Discovery Therapeutics Inc. (DTI) as part of the company’s $45m Series D fund raising. IBT invested alongside a syndicate of investors including Schroder Ventures International Life Sciences Fund II, which invested $5m.

Discovery Therapeutics, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a private, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercialising in-licensed products for a variety of clinical indications. The company currently has five products in clinical development that target Parkinson’s, renal and cardiac diseases.STOCKHOLM — Investor AB said through its unit Investor Growth Capital unit, it participated in the second round of equity financing for Princeton Optronics Inc, which develops active components for fibre-optic networks.

The other investor are St Paul Venture Capital, Technology Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Novak Biddle Venture Partners. The total financing is 25 mln usd, Investor said, but did not specify what its own share of the investment is. Princeton Optronics will use the additional capital to fund the final development stage of its Power Sleep 2000, a high-power, broadly tunable laser, along with the continued expansion of its manufacturing facility.CHICAGO — Lake Pacific Partners, LLC, a Chicago- based private equity fund, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the cellulose and fibrous food casing business of Devro-Teepak, Inc., currently a wholly owned subsidiary of UK-based Devro plc. The new company will be named Teepak, LLC, and be headquartered in Lisle, Illinois.

The deal to acquire Teepak, a leader in the international cellulose and fibrous casing business, is fully financed and subject to shareholder and customary regulatory approval. Lake Pacific officials expect the deal to close this fall. Key members of Teepak’s current management team, including president Paul Murphy, will participate in the transaction and will remain in leadership positions with the newly formed entity.NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has raised US$1-billion to acquire stakes in venture capital and partnerships from other investors, according to people familiar with the financing.

The new fund is an effort by Goldman to profit from the bursting of the Internet bubble that Wall Street helped create. The firm will buy stakes in companies — at a discount — held by people seeking to exit investments locked up for as long as 10 years.The bet by Goldman, which last year raised US$5.25-billion for its own venture capital investments, is that the need for cash by others will enable the firm to generate returns that beat benchmark indexes, analysts and investors say.For yesterday?s Wire, click here