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Latest Deals: 19 - 25 March 2003

The AltAssets weekly round up of deals done across the world. This week there were 112 active investors in 47 deals and no exits across 13 sectors, compared to 146 active investors in 56 deals and one exit the previous week…

Active investors this week

Europe & Israel

Retail

Investment:

Barclays Private Equity backs MBO of jewellery retailer
Barclays Private Equity has backed the E44m management buy-out of DCK Concessions, a jewellery concession retailer based in the UK. DCK operates through 1,900 concessions in high street fashion stores such as TopShop and Dorothy Perkins. Barclays Private Equity has taken a 32 per cent stake in the company and Barclays Leveraged Finance has provided the debt element of the deal. Invex Capital Partners has also taken a minority stake as a result of the MBO.

Food & Beverage

Investment:

Sand Aire backs MBI of catering company
Sand Aire Private Equity has backed the £4m management buy-in of By Word of Mouth, a UK-based family-owned catering and event management business. Sand Aire's investment will allow the MBI team to develop the existing reputation of the company. By Word of Mouth was formed in 1977 by husband and wife team Mike and Janie Lloyd Owen.

Networking

Investment:

Apax Partners joins BitBand's second round
Apax Partners has joined a second round of venture capital financing for BitBand, a provider of video and audio solutions for broadband IP networks. The company, which is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, secured $9.1m in this round from Apax, Sequoia Capital, The Fantine Group, The Challenge Fund and the Kardan Group. BitBand will use the additional capital to extend its marketing and sales efforts and to increase its global presence in the marketplace. It will also help to broaden its product offering.

Software

Investment:

Pentech Ventures commits to Enigmatec
Pentech Ventures has committed capital to a recent round of financing for UK-based Enigmatec Corporation. The company provides enterprise software and was founded in April 2001. The proceeds of this first round of institutional funding will be used for product development. The round, which comes after a £1m seed funding in May 2002, also included Amadeus Capital Partners.

Kennet Venture Partners invests in Exony
Kennet Venture Partners has invested in a first round of venture capital financing for Exony, a UK-based contact centre software company. The company designs integration and reporting products for use in complex contact centres. The round totalled £3m and will be used to expand its current product portfolio.

Education

Investment:

Sovereign Capital backs Principal Care Services
Sovereign Capital has backed the institutional buy-out of Principal Care Services, a Herefordshire, UK-based residential schools group for children and young adults with special educational needs. The firm led the £9.2m buy-out with Bank of Scotland providing the debt financing. PCS currently comprises three purpose built facilities and the new funding will allow the company to expand this number and continue to develop the group.

Technology

Investment:

The Royal Bank of Scotland funds E2m round for Infocell
The Royal Bank of Scotland has committed equity capital to Infocell-Telecom, a Dublin, Ireland-based provider of real-time tracking information for public transport systems. The company raised E2m in this third round of financing. The proceeds of the round will be used for sales and marketing. The money will be also used for business development activites in Asia, Europe, and North America, according to VentureWire.

Manufacturing

Investments:

Dunedin backs aerospace MBO
Scottish private equity firm Dunedin Capital Partners and ABN Amro have backed the management buy-out of Gardner Aerospace, a Nuneaton, UK-based aerospace machining group. Gardner produces a wide range of machined components for airframes and aircraft engines. Total financing amounted to £21.5m including working capital facilities, which will allow the company to invest, relieve cash flow problems and return the business to a position of financial stability. Dunedin and ABN provided a total of £15.7m in private equity.

North America

Technology

Investments:

Covestco in series D round for Arsenal
Covestco, Southern Cross Capital and Southeast Interactive Technology Funds have invested in a series D round of venture capital financing for Arsenal Digital Solutions, a Cary, North Carolina-based company. The round totalled $10.5m, bringing Arsenal's total funding to date to over $63m. The company provides storage management services throughout North America and currently supports more than 700 customers in 22 data centres. The proceeds from this round will be used to expand services and to enhance business development.

Battery Ventures leads round for Neoteris
Battery Ventures has led a series C round of equity financing for Neoteris, a Mountain View, California-based company that develops secure application access solutions. The round closed at $17.5m, the proceeds of which will be used for new product development initiatives, accelerating sales and improving distribution and support divisions. The Barksdale Group and New Enterprise Associates joined Battery Ventures in this round.

Canaan Partners co-leads round for Silicon Optix
Canaan Partners and Polaris Venture Partners have co-led a series B round of venture capital financing for Silicon Optix, a San Jose-based fabless semiconductor company. The second tranche of this round closed on $10m, bringing the round total to $27m. Origin Partners and RBC Partners also participated in this second tranche. The company will use the capital to complete the development and market the launch of its latest products.

General Catalyst in funding for AudioAudit
General Catalyst Partners has committed capital to a round of equity financing for AudioAudit, a provider of broadcast verification technology services for the advertising, cable and broadcast industries. The series A round closed on $15m and included investors such as Polaris Venture Partners and Ridgewood Capital. AudioAudit, which is located in Paramus, New Jersey will put the raised capital towards company expansion, particularly through product development.

TD Capital invests in EqualLogic
TD Capital, through TD Capital Technology Ventures, has invested capital in a round of venture financing for EqualLogic, a Nashua, New Hampshire-based company. EqualLogic provides data storage systems for businesses throughout the US. The round closed at $15m, the proceeds of which will be used for sales and marketing. Charles River Ventures and Sigma Partners also participated.

DragonVenture commits to Erlang Technology
DragonVenture has committed capital to a round of private equity financing for Erlang Technology. The company is situated in St Louis, Missouri and concentrates on the development of fabless semiconductors. A number of other investors also joined DragonVentures in this $11.7m series C investment, including Authosis, Jafco Ventures, Pacesetter Capital Group and Ignite Group. The funds will be used to extend its reach in the Asia-Pacific region.

Miramar leads round for Berkäna Wireless
Miramar Venture Partners has led a $12.8m series B round of institutional financing for Berkäna Wireless, a Campbell, California-based semiconductor company that provides solutions for wireless connectivity. Also involved in this round were Authosis, KTB Ventures, PTI Ventures, Hansol Capital and Storm Ventures. The funds will allow Berkäna to continue its plans for expansion in the marketplace.

Intel Capital joins France Telecom in round for Jabber
Intel Capital has joined France Telecom Technology Investissements, the technology investment vehicle of France Telecom, in a $7.2m private placement. Jabber was formed by Webb Interactive Services in 2000 and develops software for secure instant messaging and presence-enabled communications. The funds will give Jabber the opportunity to accelerate its marketing activities and product development efforts. Webb Interactive also made a strategic investment.

SGF Tech finances TeraXion
SGF Tech has made a capital commitment to TeraXion, a Canadian company that develops advanced optical components for optical networks. The Québec City-based company secured US$10m in this ongoing second round, which will help TeraXion to launch its products and sustain sales and marketing capabilities worldwide. The Business Development Bank of Canada and Innovatech Québec also participated.

Media

Investments:

Providence Equity Partners finances Canadian media company
Providence Equity Partners has committed capital to a round of equity financing for Craig Media, a Calgary, Canada-based television broadcasting company. Craig Media secured $145m, which included $110m from Providence and $35m in a senior debt facility provided by RBC Capital Markets and BMO Nesbitt Burns. The funds will be used to launch a new broadcast television station in Toronto and to fund the future growth of the overall business.

TA Associates funds Mythic
TA Associates has committed $32m in equity financing for Mythic Entertainment, a Fairfax, Virginia-based company that develops online gaming. The company has so far developed 13 online games, including Dark Age of Camelot, which has over 220,000 subscribers worldwide.

Cotyledon Capital invests in TransGaming
Cotyledon Capital has invested an undisclosed sum of venture capital in a second round of funding for TransGaming Technologies, a Toronto, Canada-based company that develops software for the video game industry. Previous investor Cotyledon Capital led the round, with participation from Covington Capital. The company will use the funds for general operating capital, according to VentureWire.

Healthcare & Life Sciences

Investments:

VenGrowth Capital Partners invests in Zelos
VenGrowth Capital Partners has committed capital to Ottawa, Canada-based Zelos Therapeutics, a healthcare company that develops pharmaceuticals for the treatment of osteoporosis. The round, which totalled $6.5m, was led by Seaflower Ventures and also included Genesys Capital Partners. The proceeds will largely be used to begin human clinical trials of its primary drug.

Cutlass Capital funds Alere
Cutlass Capital commits funds to Alere Medical, a Reno, Nevada-based provider of healthcare management and remote monitoring of patients with advanced heart failure. The company raised $5.1m in this series D round, which it will use for expansion financing. New investor Cutlass Capital led the financing and existing investors also participated, including Flagship Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, SR One, and Western Technology Investments.

Parthenon Capital recapitalises Med-Tel
Parthenon Capital, a private equity firm that focuses on the middle-market, has led a $19m recapitalisation of Med-Tel International of McLean, Virginia and London, UK. Med-Tel owns and operates a number of diagnostic imaging centres using telemedicine technology. The company currently operates 21 MRI scanners located in 17 centres in the US and the UK.

Prism Venture Partners leads round for iScience
Prism Venture Partners has led a round of equity financing for Californian healthcare company, iScience Surgical. The company, which is located in San Francisco, raised $7m from a group of investors that included DeNovo Ventures, Asset Management Company and Pacific Horizon Ventures. The funds secured in this series B round will be used for product development, to execute regulatory filings and to conduct clinical evaluations leading up to product commercialisation.

St Paul leads healthcare investment
St Paul Venture Capital has led a third round of venture capital financing for The Foundry, a medical device company incubator focused on decreasing the invasiveness of procedures. The company has raised $1.3m in this round, which will go towards the incubator's Foundry III investment vehicle. St Paul Venture Capital, a new investor, co-led the round with Morgenthaler Ventures, an existing investor.

Nomura International leads add-on financing for Targacept
Nomura International has led a $14m add-on financing for Targacept, a healthcare company headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The funding is in addition to a $46m round that Nomura also led in December 2002. The round now totals $60m. Investors in this second tranche included Oxford Bioscience Partners, Jafco Ventures, Cogene Biotech Ventures, Bison Capital and Rock Castle Ventures. The funds will allow the company to hit clinical milestones and will provide additional strategic flexibility.

Domain Associates finances GenVault
Domain Associates was the sole investor in a round of venture financing for GenVault, a Carlsbad, California-based company that provides of biological instrument systems for DNA storage and archiving. The company raised $10m in this series A financing, which will be will be used for the commercialisation of its flagship archive system. Jim Blair, a managing member at Domain Associates, has joined the Genvault board of directors.

Services

Investments:

Mellon Ventures invests in STI Knowledge
Mellon Ventures has invested in a $14m round of venture capital funding for STI Knowledge, a company located in Atlanta, Georgia that provides help desk technology and services. The company will use the funds to help pay off some debt, create a stronger balance sheet and cover upfront costs. The round was led by entrepreneur Satish Sanan and also included BV-Cornerstone Ventures.

Wind Point Partners acquires AIR-Serv Holding
Wind Point Partners has acquired AIR-Serv Holding, a company that operates free-standing coin-operated tyre inflation and vacuum vending machines and maintains air vending service contracts with gas stations and convenience stores. Wind Point Partners and co-investors have committed $67m to the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company.

The CapStreet Group invests in Trajen
The CapStreet Group and New York Life Capital Partners have made a commitment to Trajen, a Bryan, Texas-based company that provides ground support and logistics solutions to the aviation industry and the US Department of Defence. The new capital, which totalled $30m, has enabled Trajen to complete several acquisitions and to continue its growth strategy.

Software

Investments:

Draper Fisher commits to Closedloop
Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Sutter Hill Ventures have both committed capital to a third round of venture financing for Closedloop Solutions, a Redwood City, California-based company that provides real-time, financial planning and forecasting applications. The company secured $5m in new funding, which brings total investment in Closedloop to more than $25m.

Blue Chip Venture finances LifeHarbor's second closing
Blue Chip Venture has committed additional capital to a second closing of LifeHarbor's series A round of institutional financing, having also committed to the first tranche. LifeHarbor, which is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has secured $2m from Blue Chip, bringing its total for the round to $7.8m. Proceeds from the funding will be used to increase the company's product development and customer service capabilities, as well as to expand sales and marketing efforts. Investors from the first tranche included Bessemer Venture Partners, WR Hambrecht & Co and Hub Angel Investment Group.

NeoCarta Ventures leads round for Myrio
NeoCarta Ventures has led a $6m round of equity financing in Myrio, a Kirkland, Washington-based company that provides software and integration services that enable broadband service providers to offer digital television and entertainment services. The capital will be used to pursue customer deployments. NeoCarta was joined in the round by Ridgewood Capital and Alexander Hutton Venture Partners.

Sunrise Capital commits to A4Vision
Sunrise Capital has committed capital to A4Vision, a Cupertino, Califonia-based provider of advanced identification software and 3D facial imaging technology. The company raised $3.1m in this series A financing from existing strategic investors myQube and Logitech and new investors Sunrise Capital and Hannah Fund. The company will use the funding to accelerate product development and market penetration, and to build its US presence.

Tech Capital funds Covarity
Tech Capital Partners has funded a round of financing for Covarity, a Waterloo, Ontario-based company that develops credit risk management solutions for the financial services industry. The company raised $2m from Tech Capital Partners, which it will use to enable the commercialisation of its flagship product.

Columbia Capital leads round for Brickstream
Columbia Capital has teamed up with Mohr Davidow Ventures in a round of equity financing for Brickstream, a Fairfax, Virginia-based company that provides customer intelligence software solutions. The series A round closed on $6.2m, the proceeds of which will be used to expand product development and to grow its sales and marketing efforts. As a result of this funding, Arun Gupta of Columbia Capital and Mike Sheridan of Mohr Davidow Ventures have joined Brickstream's board of directors.

Access Technology funds Synacor
Access Technology Capital has joined a group of investors in a round of funding for Synacor, a provider of a software platform that enables telecommunication companies to deliver premium content and services. Located in Buffalo, New York, the company secured $6.5m from Access, Intel Capital, Rand Capital, Walden International and Crystal Venture Capital. Synacor will ensure that the funds are used to continue the expansion of its customer base.

Kodiak completes investment in Application Security
Kodiak Venture Partners has joined in a round of venture capital financing for Application Security. The manufacturer of software for securing business infrastructures from application level attacks is located in New York and will use the funds for product development and market penetration. The seed stage round of financing, the figure for which was undisclosed, also included Early Stage Enterprises.

ArrowPath Venture Capital closes financing for Siperian
ArrowPath Venture Capital has invested money in a series B round of funding for Siperian. The customer data management software solutions provider secured $8m from a number of investors, including ArrowPath, Red Rock Ventures, Anthem Venture Partners, Blumberg Capital and Saffron Hill Ventures. The funds will be used to increase sales efforts and improve its visibility in the marketplace.

Kodiak invests in Mindreef
Kodiak Venture Partners has joined with the company co-founders, Jim Moskun and Frank Grossman, in a round of financing for Mindreef. The $4m that the company has raised in this first round will be used to support the further development of the company's web services diagnostics system and to expand the company's marketing and sales, as well as enhance overall company operations. Based in Hollis, New Hampshire, Mindreef enables application developers, service developers, testers and support staff to solve the problem of distributed applications.

Rose-Hulman Ventures invests in Powerway
Technology-based venture capital firm, Rose-Hulman Ventures, has invested $1m in Powerway, a provider of risk management software and services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Powerway also has offices in London, Mexico City and Detroit. Rose-Hulman Ventures will also provide technical research and will assist in the development of prototypes before bringing products to market.

Wireless

Investment:

Novus Ventures invests in Venturi Wireless
Novus Ventures has committed capital to a recent round of equity financing for Venturi Wireless, formerly Fourelle Systems, a Santa Clara-based company that develops wireless acceleration solutions. The company raised $10m in this second round of funding, which it expects to use for growing the business, particularly in sales, marketing and product development. Novus was joined by Horizon Ventures and Storm Ventures, according to VentureWire.

Networking

Investment:

Soros Private Equity funds Oculan
Soros Private Equity has provided $5m in venture capital to Oculan Corporation, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based company that develops network and systems management solutions to management service providers, system integrators, and IT outsourcers. Oculan intends to use the funds to expand the company's channel programmes and to bring the company to profitability.

Food & Beverage

Investment:

Brockway Moran & Partners acquires Pennant Foods Corp
Florida-based private equity firm, Brockway Moran & Partners, has acquired Pennant Foods Corp and Southeast Food Services Company, collectively known as Pennant, a Knoxville, Tennessee-based food and beverage company. Pennant operates 89 Wendy's fast food restaurants across Southern California and Eastern Tennessee. The terms and value of the transaction were not disclosed.

Energy & Utilities

Investment:

Nth Power invests in energy PIPE
Nth Power Technologies is among a group of private equity firms that have committed financing to a publicly-quoted energy company. Evergreen Solar, which is headquartered in Marlboro, Massachussetts, is traded on the NASDAQ and raised $29.47m in this round. The company intends to use the funds to increase its manufacturing capacity, strengthen its sales initiatives and support its research and development activities. Other investors in this PIPE deal included Arete, Sustainable Asset Management, Zero Stage Capital, Perseus, RockPort Capital Partners, Capital Technologies CDPQ, Merrill Lynch Investment Management and Credit Suisse Asset Management.

CSFB acquires Duke's energy business
CSFB Private Equity has acquired Duke/UAE Ref-Fuel, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based business. The company owns American Ref-Fuel Company, which has six waste-to-energy facilities in the northeast US. The facilities in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania convert municipal waste into usable energy. The acquisition was valued at $306m and involves Duke Energy North America selling its 50 per cent stake in the company.

Internet

Investment:

New Enterprise Associates invests in WholeSecurity
New Enterprise Associates has committed capital to WholeSecurity, a company that has developed an automatic online security solution that prevents online identity theft. The company is situated in Menlo Park, California, and has secured $8m in this round from a group of investors that also included Venrock Associates and Trellis Partners. The financing will be used primarily for product launch and market acceleration.

Copyright © 2003 AltAssets

Alex Hingston is a researcher with AltAssets.

If you have any information about your latest deals or exits and would like us to cover it, please e-mail your press releases to deals@AltAssets.net or call Alex Hingston on +44 (0)20 7242 8810.