PRINT THIS PAGE Weekly Deals and Funds Roundup: 16 April 200816/04/2008. Source: AltAssets. 
A selection of the latest deals and funds news from across the globe - essential reading for those who need to keep up-to-date with the industry's key developments. DEALS
Venture firms Bessemer Venture Partners, Lehman Brothers Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital have completed a $19m Series B financing in primary storage data compressions solutions provider Storwize. Storwize is based in California. The Series C financing will be used to accelerate Storwize's sales and support organisations, according to a statement.
Venture firms Northbridge Bridge Venture Partners and Foundation Capital have led a $14m Series B financing in document management and work flow provider Spring CM. The financing comprises $10m in equity and a $4m credit facility. Foundation Capital targets opportunities in cleantech, consumer internet and infrastructure, telecommunications and networking and enterprise software and on demand services. Boston-based Northbridge is an early stage venture capital firm with approximately $1.3bn under management.
San-Francisco-based private equity firm Gryphon Investors has acquired Aladdin Food Management Services, AmeriServe Food Management Services and Fitz, Vogt & Associates, through TrustHouse Services Group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Gryphon Investors focuses on leveraged acquisitions of mid-market growth companies. The firm recently appointed Dennis O'Brien as operating partner.
Specialty finance firm Stonehenge Growth Capital has made a $16.4m investment in SSTX. SSTX is newly-formed company that acquired the assets of Sunbelt Steel Texas. SSTX is a steel round bar distributor specialising in high performance alloy grades and targets the down hole drilling market. Stonehenge is a firm with expertise in mezzanine and private equity, tax credit finance and structured finance transactions. The firm operates out of offices in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin.
US private equity firm The Gores Group has sold a majority share in videoconferencing provider Wire One Holdings to British Telecommunications. Financial details were not disclosed. Last year Wire One posted revenues of approximately $140m. Based in Los Angeles, Gores also has offices in Colorado and London. Gores first invested in Wire One in 2003.
French private equity firm Sigefi has organised an equity restructuring operation in Italian manufacturer of fabrics and accessories for luxury shoes, Schmid. Financial terms were not disclosed. The funds Siparex Midcap (32.9 per cent) and Siparex Italia (16.5 per cent) together acquired a 49.4 per cent ownership interest in the buy-out vehicle alongside the company's chairman, Gian Luigi Belotti, and other financial investors. Among the sellers, Italian financial group Cape Natixis made a significant reinvestment on the occasion of this deal. Schmid was founded in Milan in 1942 and focuses on exclusive shoe brands specifically in Italy and France. Sigefi currently employs approximately 50 employees with offices in France, Milan, Morocco, California, Madrid and Tunisia.
Calgary, Canada-based TriWest Capital Partners has acquired marine construction and dredging services provider Fraser River Pile & Dredge. The investment was made in partnership with FRPD's senior management team and existing principals. Financial details were not disclosed. FRPD operates in Western Canada and the Northwest Territories and have been in the marine construction and dredging services since 1911. TriWest is a private equity firm that invests in profitable firms and work in partnership with existing management. This transaction represents the second investment from the TriWest Capital Parters III fund.
Mid-market private equity firm Langholm Capital has completed the MBO of Tyrrells Potato Chips. Financial details of the MBO were not disclosed. Langholm backed Tyrells CEO Les Sayers and partnered with the owner and founder of Tyrrells, Will Chase. Tyrrells farms its potatoes out of Herefordshire and began producing potato crisps in 2002. Langholm typically invests in high growth consumer-facing companies. Langholm recently invested in commercial breakfast cereal provider Dorset Cereals.
Private equity house Endless has backed the MBO of a number of portfolio companies from Amco Corporation. The £9.4m buy-out included Amalgamated Construction, Amco Drilling, Amco Plastics and Amco Developments. The companies have a combined turnover of £100m, employing some 800 workers. Endless typically supports buy-outs and turnarounds and has offices in Leeds, London, Manchester, Birmingham and Northern Ireland. Amco Corporation will change its name over the next several months, according to a statement.
UK private equity firm Sovereign Capital has completed a £34m MBO of World Class Learning Schools & Systems Limited. WCLS is based in London and serves over 2,000 pupils with five schools in the US and one school in Qatar. Sovereign Capital is an equity buy and build specialist that focuses primarily on the healthcare, education and training and financial outsourcing services sectors. Sovereign recently sold Alpha Plus, a leading group of independent schools.
Alternative asset investment house Hotbed has invested £23.8m in health spa thelifehouse. The spa will be built in Essex with 100 bedrooms and 92 treatment rooms, while the current largest spa in England only has 63 treatment rooms. Hotbed is a specialist supplier of alternative asset investment and focuses on direct private equity and commercial property investments. Hotbed was founded in 2002 and has made 60 investments with transactions valued at approximately £500m.
Venture capital firm Institutional Venture Partners has led a second round of financing worth $20m in RGB Networks. Accel Partners, Comcast Interactive Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Focus Ventures also participated in the round of financing. RGB provides network video processing and with the latest round of financing has increased the value of the company to $200m. Founded in 1980, IVP has approximately $2.2bn in committed capital and primarily invests in the later stages in companies. IVP recently closed its twelfth fund, IVP XII, a $600m later stage venture capital fund.
Venture capital firm Tsing Capital, through their China Environment Fund, has led Series A financing worth $19m in ET Solar. ET Solar is a solar component manufacturer that is headquartered in Nanjing with manufacturing facilities in Taizhou, China. The China Environment Fund is dedicated to cleantech investment with three funds currently under management. Tsing Capital is affiliated with Tsinghua University and has a management team consisting of professionals with both international and domestic venture capital experience.
Private equity firm The Riverside Company has acquired manufacturer of railcar movers Central Power Products, more commonly known as Shuttlewagon. A railcar mover is a vehicle that can travel both on the road and on the rails and capable of moving railroad cars. Based in Missouri, Shuttlewagon is one of three North American railcar mover manufacturers and the only company to use rubber tires instead of metal tires. The Riverside Company invests heavily on the smaller end of the mid-market and has approximately $2bn in nine funds. This transaction represented the firm's tenth acquisition of the year.
Swedish-based private equity firm Ratos has received SEK149m (£13m) in dividends from portfolio company drinks supplier Arcus Gruppen. Arcus Gruppen is a subsidiary of Ratos based in Norway that supplies brands including Braastad Cognac, Vikingfjord Vodka, Hammer Gin, Løiten and Linie Aquavit. Ratos is a publicly listed firm that is traded on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Stockholm. The firm has offices in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
UK private equity firm Sovereign Capital has acquired Paragon, a provider of government-funded training. Financial details were not disclosed. Paragon primarily operates in the south of England and has two main streams of training, Apprenticeships and Train to Gain. Sovereign is a private equity buy & build specialist and focuses on investing in lower mid-market companies. The firm recently sold Alpha group, an education provider with British schools in the US and Qatar.
US private equity firm Madrone Capital Partners has led a $25m Series B round of financing in search engine provider Cuill. Cuill is a startup company using search architecture, relevance methods and data analysis to create a new search engine. Menlo Park, California-based Madrone is a private investment firm affiliated with the chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, Rob Walton. The first round of financing was worth $8m and was led by Tugboat Ventures and Greylock Partners.
Venture capitalist firm InterWest Partners has led a $20m investment in Signal Demand, an on-demand price and margin optimisation software provider. Existing investors Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, General Catalyst and Catamount Ventures also participated. Signal Demand's software uses patented mathematical models to process thousands of variables that allow customers to adjust supply and demand on a regular basis. Founded in 1979, InterWest focuses on building long-term relationships with entrepreneurs and portfolio companies. They are currently investing in their ninth fund, IW IX, worth approximately $600m.
Private equity firm Waterland Private Equity has acquired a majority stake in high-end travel agency Windrose Fernreisen Touristik . Financial details were not disclosed. Windrose caters their trips to adventure and luxury enthusiasts and operates in Germany and Austria. Waterland has offices in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany while focusing investments on fragmented growth markets. This investment represents Waterland's second investment in the travel business, their first investment was Avontuur.
Private equity firm Palladium Equity Partners has acquired industrial minerals company American Gilsonite. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Gilsonite operates out of Bonanza, Utah and mines uintaite, a variety of asphatitie. Palladium focuses a majority of their investments in companies that target the US Hispanic market. They currently have approximately $1bn of capital under management.
Private equity firm H.I.G. Capital has acquired Alabama-based Linden Lumber Company. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Linden manufactures Southern hardwoods including red oak, white oak and ash and supplies products for custom cabinetry, furniture, moulding and flooring applications. Miami-based H.I.G. specialises in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies with attractive growth potential. This transaction is H.I.G.'s fourth in the sector.
AIG SunAmerica Ventures led a $22m Series B financing round for data recovery and transport technologies provider Link_A_Media Devices Corporation. Other investors included KeyNote Ventures, NEC Electronics, Micron Technology and Seagate Technology. Link_A_Media develops custom, integrated system solutions on a chip for linking digital information within and across different media devices.
Private equity fund ILP III has taken a majority equity stake in Panini SpA, the parent company of Panini North America. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in Turin, Italy, Panini enables clients to capitalise on shifts in the global payments processing market. As part of the deal, the Panini family will continue to provide leadership in key roles. Robert Romanin Jacur, a senior executive with Accenture, will join the board of directors. ILP III is managed by J. Hirsch & Co., a strategy and management consulting firm with offices in Italy, Luxembourg and Germany.
JPMorgan Partners is exiting its investment in UK biotechnology company Piramed Limited through its sale to healthcare company Roche for an upfront cash payment of $160m plus $15m due upon commencement of Phase II clinical trials for the company's oncology program. Piramed discovers and develops inhibitors of the of the phosphatidinylinositol 3-kinase superfamily for cancer and non-cancer indications such as immune-inflammation. JPMorgan Partners originally invested in Piramed in 2003 during a Series A financing round.
Private equity firm Heliad Equity Partners has sold 50 per cent of their portfolio, worth €47.6m, to Heliad Investments . Heliad Ivestments is a UK-based acquisition vehicle financed by Greenpark funds and advised by Greenpark Capital. Following this transaction, Heliad II, a traditional private equity fund focusing on late stage transactions in German-speaking countries, will be founded alongside the publicly listed company. Greenpark Capital will be investing a double-digit million sum in this fund, according to the firm. The new fund, which is to be managed via a subsidiary of Heliad, has a target volume of €130m.
Venture capital firm Altira Group has invested in New Mexico-based Hyperion Power Generation. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. HPG is developing a new type of small, self-contained, transportable nuclear power reactor to produce heat, steam and electricity for a variety of commercial applications. The firm has also invested in Colorado-based Evolutionary Genomics. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. Denver-based Altira focuses on investments in energy technology companies. The investment was made from the firm's $176m fifth fund, Altira Technology Fund V.
FUNDS
IndexAtlas has launched the $50m Art History Fund which will invest exclusively in businesses serving the art industry, such as auction houses, advisory services, financial and security firms and software and media companies. The average investment will be in a range of $3m to $8m and is expected to last four years. The fund seeks to generate an annualized IRR in excess of 35 per cent, according to sources. IndexAtlas' CEO Sergey Skaterschikov will serve has investment manager.
CalCEF Clean Energy Angel Fund I has completed an initial closing on investment commitments. CalCEF focuses on investments in seed and early stage clean energy companies in the renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy storage sectors of the clean energy industry. CalCEF is the founding limited partner in the Angel Fund. The fund will now begin evaluating potential investment opportunities representing a wide range of clean energy technologies, according to a statement.
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