| | | | | | | Today: The sun is shining and I, Luisa, will be your referee this morning. I say that after spending last night watching Serena Williams play an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden. I've never seen Williams play; she did "beat" Caroline Wozniacki but it was pretty obvious the players weren't that serious. Gael Monfils won against Stan Wawrinka. Yes, there were a lot of errors and some showboating. (Monfils was really entertaining.) Later, Williams reportedly did address Maria Sharapova's failed drug test. So I don't have much say about PE this morning. I have a story on Nautic Partners investing in ExactCare Pharmacy. Read the story here. Chris has a story on Centerbridge Partners, which is out with its third distressed fund. Check it out here. Greg Brogger, the founder and CEO of SharesPost, has a column on why there have been so few IPOs this year. The public market has become increasingly dangerous for growth companies while the private market have become supportive, Brogger said. Read his article here. Intuit has another deal and is selling QuickBase to Welsh Carson. Last week, Intuit sold Quicken to HIG Capital. The Hill has a story on Mike Sommers, who is the President and CEO of the Private Equity Growth Capital Council. If you have a comment, a tip, or something nice to say email me here at [email protected]. If you have a complaint, email Chris at [email protected]. | | | | Today's Take | | | | PE HUB First Read In Thursday's Second Opinion, Sanders wins Michigan in a big upset over Clinton, and Trump takes Michigan and Mississippi, Intuit agrees to sell QuickBase to Welsh Carson, and Jeff Bezos lifts the veil on his rocket company, Blue Origin. Read more... Why growth companies are staying private Some in the venture community see the fact that there have been only a handful of tech IPO's in the last six months as the harbinger of doom. To understand what's happening, you have to ask what a growth company needs from its capital markets. Read more... PE HUB Second Opinion In Second Opinion, ex-Continental CEO Bethune leads the fight over United Airlines' board, China plans to lay off five to six million worker, and Burberry becomes the focus of takeover talk. Read more... Weston Presidio spin-out Main Post closes debut fund at $410 mln Main Post Partners, a lower mid-market private equity firm based in San Francisco, closed its inaugural fund at $410 million, including a $10 million commitment from the firm's general partners. Main Post Growth Capital LP reached its hard cap after initially targeting $250 million. Read more... CVC hires TMT banker from Deutsche Bank CVC Capital Partners hired Chris Colpitts as a senior managing director and head of telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) in the U.S. Read more... Centerbridge pitches third distressed debt fund Centerbridge Partners is in market with its third distressed debt fund that will put a bulk of capital in reserve to spend if the market spirals downward, according to a limited partner with knowledge of the fund. Read more... Nautic to invest in ExactCare Pharmacy: source Nautic Partners LLC is investing in ExactCare Pharmacy, according to a source and an FTC filing. Nautic's investment in ExactCare is valued at $150 million, the source said. It's unclear how much of a stake Nautic will have in ExactCare. No bankers were involved in the deal, the source said. Read more... Number of PE-backed companies on 'weakest links' list hits seven-year high Chalk this up to another sign of impending doom: Sixty-four private equity-backed companies are listed on Standard & Poor's "weakest links" report from Feb. 4. That is the largest number of PE-backed companies on the list since the great credit freeze in February 2009. Read more... Moody's downgrades Avista-backed Hi-Crush as energy credit dwindles Hi-Crush Partners, an Avista Capital-backed provider of sand used for fracking, absorbed a debt downgrade from Moody's amid uncertainty about liquidity levels in the energy sector. The downgrade comes as the company's customers face dwindling credit levels after oil prices have failed to recover from dramatic drops starting in late 2014, Moody's said. Read more... Data spotlight: Fundraising looks rosy as it starts year off at good clip Quarter-to-date fundraising shows U.S.-based firms have raised more than $6.3 billion in the start of the new year, although there appears to be a slowdown in the closings in smaller funds Read more... | Meet The Man Who President Bill Clinton Described As
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| | | | VC Deals | | | | Pico Venture Partners lead Series A for Spotinst Spotinst said Tuesday it closed a Series A financing round led by Pico Venture Partners. Financial terms weren't announced although press reports said the round was $2 million. Tel Aviv-based Spotinst provides an automated IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) platform for both enterprises and startups. Read more... Drive Spotter gets $750K Drive Spotter, a video platform to analyze and improve commercial fleet vehicle and driver performance, raised $750,000 round of financing led by Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance. Drive Spotter is a graduate of Global Insurance Accelerator (GIA), a De Moines, Iowa-based startup accelerated focused on the insurance industry. Grinnell is also an investor in GIA. Read more... Singbartl invests in Emnify Lars Singbartl, a former partner and head of Warburg Pincus Germany, has invested in Emnify. Financial terms weren't announced. Berlin-based Emnify is a cellular M2M and IoT connectivity company. Read more... Aprea AB raises $51 mln Aprea AB said Wednesday it raised 46 million euros ($51 million) in a series B round of financing led by Versant Ventures and 5AM Ventures. Sectoral Asset Management also participated in the round while HealthCap was local lead investor. Aprea's main shareholder is KDev Investments AB, an investment vehicle owned by Karolinska Development AB and Rosetta Capital Ltd. Stockholm-based Aprea B is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing anticancer compounds that aim to reactivate the tumor suppressor protein p53. Read more... Amadeus Capital leads C round for Indiamart Indiamart said Wednesday it raised a Series C round of financing led by Amadeus Capital. Financial terms weren't announced. Also participating were Westbridge Capital, the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund, managed by Quona Capital in addition to Intel Capital. Indiamart, of New Delhi, is an online marketplace. Read more... Wunder Capital gets $3.6 mln to help investors tap solar market Wunder Capital, an online lending platform that connects investors with large-scale solar projects across the United States, raised $3.6 million in Series A funding, bringing the company's total funding to $4.7 million. The round was led by Techstars Ventures, Fenway Summer Ventures, and FinTech Collective, alongside existing seed investors. Wunder is also the first solar company to graduate from Techstars' technology accelerator program. Read more... Catalyst DevWorks raises $11.5 mln from Salem Investment Salem Investment Partners invested $11.5 million in Catalyst DevWorks, a company that applies predictive analytics to assembling teams of software engineers. Based in Baltimore, Catalyst gives enterprises the ability to deploy software engineering teams within 24 hours. Read more... Capella Bioscience raises $15.5 mln in Series A funding London-based Capella Bioscience Ltd raised 11 million pounds ($15.5 million) in a Series A funding round led by Advent Life Sciences, Medicxi Ventures and Osage University Partners. The new capital will support the advancement of Capella's therapeutic antibody discovery programs towards clinical evaluation. In connection with the financing, Bill Harrington of Osage University Partners will join the board in an observer role. Read more... Lewis & Clark Ventures leads $9 mln Series B for OneSpace St. Louis, Missouri-based OneSpace, a virtual workforce platform that brings businesses and freelancers together, raised $9 million in a Series B funding round led by Lewis & Clark Ventures. Series A lead Highland Capital, along with Answers Corporation executives David Karandish and Chris Sims, also participated in round. OneSpace also announced Tom Hillman, general partner at Lewis & Clark Ventures, recently joined the company's board. Read more... Abingworth, Canaan lead $43 mln Series B for Tizona Therapeutics Tizona Therapeutics Inc, a company harnessing the power of the immune system to develop treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases, raised $43 million in Series B funding. Abingworth and Canaan Partners led the round with participation from Lightstone Ventures and existing Series A investors, including MPM Capital, Amgen Ventures, Astellas Venture Management and InterWest Partners. Read more... CoverWallet launches with $2 mln in seed funding CoverWallet, an online insurance manager, raised $2 million in seed funding from Two Sigma Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Founder Collective and numerous angel investors. The New York-based startup was in stealth mode until this week. Read more... UserZoom raises $34 mln Series A, acquires YouEye UserZoom, a user experience research and testing platform, raised $34 million in a financing round led by TC Growth Partners, Trident Capital and StepStone Group. San Jose, California-based UserZoom also announced it acquired research technology company YouEye for an undisclosed amount. Read more... VC-backed Booker buys Frederick Booker, a platform for service commerce, bought San Francisco-based Frederick, a marketing automation platform for appointment-based service businesses. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Last year New York-based Booker raised $95 million in a Series C funding round led by Medina Capital. Bain Capital Ventures, Revolution Ventures, TDF Ventures and Grotech Ventures have also invested in the company. Read more... | | | | | | | | Back to top | | Partners Group to buy Axia NetMedia for $203.2 mln Partners Group said Wednesday it agreed to buy Axia NetMedia for C$4.25 a share or C$272 million ($203.2 million). Axia NetMedia, of Calgary, designs, installs and operates "open access" fiber-based internet and data networks across North America and France. Read more... Vicente Capital's MedBridge merges with Sleep Services of America Vicente Capital Partners MedBridge Healthcare, a provider of sleep diagnostic testing and respiratory therapy services, merged with Sleep Services of America, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Johns Hopkins Health System. Vicente Capital Partners acquired MedBridge in 2008. Read more... Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe to buy QuickBase from Intuit Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe agreed to acquire QuickBase from Intuit Inc. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Q uickBase offers a development platform with a low-code interface, enabling users to create custom applications without learning code. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Read more... Apax, Becton Dickinson to form joint venture for Respiratory Solutions Medical technology company Becton, Dickinson and Co agreed to sell 50.1 percent of its Respiratory Solutions business to Apax Partners and form a joint venture that will operate as a new, independent company. The transaction values the entire business today at nearly $500 million. The new company will have estimated annual revenue of approximately $900 million. Read more... Genstar to sell ERT to Nordic Capital Genstar Capital agreed to sell ERT, a Philadelphia-based provider of patient data collection solutions for use in clinical drug development, to Nordic Capital. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Genstar acquired ERT in 2012 for approximately $400 million in a take-private transaction. Read more... | How can you get involved at Buyouts East?
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| | IPOs | | | | Back to top | | Why growth companies are staying private Some in the venture community see the fact that there have been only a handful of tech IPO's in the last six months as the harbinger of doom. To understand what's happening, you have to ask what a growth company needs from its capital markets. Read more... | | | | |
Back to top | | Burberry searches for mystery investor amid takeover bid concerns: Reuters Burberry (BRBY.L) is attempting to identity a mystery investor who has built up a stake of nearly 5 percent in the company, pushing its shares to a five-month high on Tuesday on speculation of a potential takeover bid, Reuters News reported. Read more... Canon closes in on Toshiba's medical unit after fierce bidding: Reuters Toshiba Corp (6502.T) has granted Canon Inc (7751.T) exclusive negotiating rights for its medical equipment unit after a hotly contested auction, with a report putting Canon's offer at more than $6 billion, Reuters News reported. Read more... Gulf Coast Specialty Energy buys Marlin Services Gulf Coast Specialty Energy Services, a portfolio company of Grey Mountain Partners, has acquired Marlin Services LLC. Financial terms weren't announced. Gray, Louisiana-based Marlin provides services for the energy industry, particularly focused on providing pipeline maintenance and repair, metal fabrication, and specialty coating services in the Gulf Coast region. Read more... PledgeMusic to buy NoiseTrade and VC-backed Set.fm PledgeMusic, a direct-to-fan e-commerce platform, agreed to acquire NoiseTrade and Set.fm. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Set.fm raised $1.2 million in seed funding from Golden Venture Partners in 2013. Read more... | | Firms & Funds | | |
Back to top | | Weston Presidio spin-out Main Post closes debut fund at $410 mln Main Post Partners, a lower mid-market private equity firm based in San Francisco, closed its inaugural fund at $410 million, including a $10 million commitment from the firm's general partners. Main Post Growth Capital LP reached its hard cap after initially targeting $250 million. Read more... Spark Capital to raise $370 mln fifth venture fund Spark Capital has set out to raise a $370 million fifth venture fund, according to a filing with the SEC. Read more... 500 Startups launches $10 mln Vietnam-focused fund 500 Startups, which has launched several new micro-funds in recent weeks, has announced a $10 million Vietnam-focused fund. The fund, which will aim to make between 100 to 150 investments, will be led by Binh Tran (co-founder and former CTO of Klout) and Eddie Thai (a Vietnam-based entrepreneur). The two joined 500 last year. Read more... | | Human Resources | | |
Back to top | | FTV Capital makes Griswold a partner FTV Capital said Wednesday it promoted Kyle Griswold to partner. Robert Anderson and Aly Lovett were also promoted to principal while Richard Liu was named a vice president. Read more... Charlesbank hires Kalvelage from Bain Capital Charlesbank Capital Partners hired Neil Kalvelage as operating partner. Kalvelage joins Charlesbank from Bain Capital, where he worked for 10 years as operating partner, most recently building a team in Melbourne, Australia. He has also held executive positions at The Hershey Co and PepsiCo. Read more... Linsalata announces promotions Linsalata Capital Partners, a Cleveland-based private equity firm, promoted Jeffrey S. Wahl to managing director and operating partner. Wahl joined Linsalata in 2014 from private equity-backed EdisonLearning, where he was president and chief executive. The firm also promoted Murad A. Beg to managing director and James V. Guddy to principal. Read more... CVC hires TMT banker from Deutsche Bank CVC Capital Partners hired Chris Colpitts as a senior managing director and head of telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) in the U.S. Read more... | | Odds & Ends + Hot Links | | |
Back to top | | PE HUB First Read In Thursday's Second Opinion, Sanders wins Michigan in a big upset over Clinton, and Trump takes Michigan and Mississippi, Intuit agrees to sell QuickBase to Welsh Carson, and Jeff Bezos lifts the veil on his rocket company, Blue Origin. Read more... PE HUB Second Opinion In Second Opinion, ex-Continental CEO Bethune leads the fight over United Airlines' board, China plans to lay off five to six million worker, and Burberry becomes the focus of takeover talk. Read more... |
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