PRINT THIS PAGE Weekly Deals and Funds Roundup: 23 April 200823/04/2008. 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 capital firms Radius Ventures and Biogen Idec New Ventures, together with hedge fundQVT Partners have led a $25m Series B round of financing in biopharmaceutical company Resolvyx. Existing investors Atlas Venture, CHL Medical Partners and Flagship Ventures also participated in the latest round. Resolvyx is dedicated to the development of resins, a class of therapies to treat inflammatory diseases. Resolvyx previously closed a $17m Series A financing round in December of 2005.
Sony Corporation of America has acquired digital entertainment solutions provider Gracenote for approximately $260m. The company previously raised venture capital from venture firms Bessemer Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital. Gracenote anticipates 2008 revenue of approximately $40m, according to a statement.
GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to acquire drug development business Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Incorporated for approximately £720m. The company previously raised venture capital over three financing rounds between 2005 and 2007. Investors included founding investor Polaris Venture Partners, Cardinal Partners, Skyline Ventures, Techno Venture Management, Three Arch Partners, Cargill Ventures, and included Novartis Bioventures Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, Genzyme Ventures, QVT Fund and Hercules Technology Growth Capital.
Investment management firm Babson Capital Management has acquired Murray Capital Management’s distressed debt management business. The financial terms were not disclosed. New York-based MCM specialises in distressed debt, transitional and stressed high yield, special situation equities and private-claims investing. Founder Marti P Murray and the investment team will join Babson Capital, according to the deal. Boston and Springfield, Massachusetts-based Babson offers absolute return, co-investing, financing and customised mandates utilising equity, fixed-income and derivative instruments. This is Babson’s third acquisition in the past six years.
New York-based private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners has acquired 5.1 per cent of the outstanding shares of BinckBank . Financial terms were not disclosed. BinckBank is an online bank for investors based in the Netherlands. Aquiline invests in financial services enterprises in industries such as property and casualty insurance, specialty finance, securities, asset management, life insurance and transaction processing.
Biopharmaceutical company BrainCells has extended its $20m Series B financing round. To date, the company has raised $50m. New investor New Enterprise Associates, existing investors and Alexandria Real Estate Equities participated in the round. Original Series B investors included MedImmune Ventures, Bay City Capital, Oxford Bioscience Partners, Pappas Ventures and NeuroVentures. The financing will be used to continue clinical trials, according to a statement. As part of the extension, Chuck Newhall, general partner and co-founder of NEA, will join BCI's board of directors.
Scalable solar thermal power plant producer eSolar has closed $130m in funding from Idealab, Google.org and Oak Investment Partners. The funding will be used to construct and deploy prefabricated power plants. eSolar develops, constructs and deploys modular, scalable solar thermal power plants. Idealab provides start-up capital to pioneering technology companies. Google.org focuses on investments in companies that address global challenges such as climate change, poverty and emerging disease. Oak Investment Partners is a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on high growth opportunities in communications, information technology, Internet new media, financial services, clean energy, healthcare services and consumer retail.
New York-based private equity firm Halyard Capital has acquired the cable assets of municipally-owned utility Newnan Utilities for $70m. The assets will be used to form NuLink, which seeks to capitalise on the Georgia region's growth, according to a statement. NuLink will be led by CEO and chairman John Brooks. Halyard Capital focuses on investing in opportunities within the media, communications and business services industries. It specialises in mid-market leveraged buy-outs and growth equity investments.
Private equity firm H.I.G. Capital has sold popular-priced eyewear supplier Motive Eyewear to StyleMark. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. California-based Motive supplies sunglasses, reading glasses and optical frames to the US and Canada. H.I.G partnered with the management of Personal Optics in 2004 to recapitalise, acquire Lantis Eyewear, and form Motive Eyewear. H.I.G. has offices in Miami, Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, London, Hamburg and Paris. It specialises in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies with attractive growth potential.
UK mid-market private equity firm Primary Capital has acquired Bedford, England-based Pacific Direct for £20m. Pacific Direct is an independent manufacturer and supplier of branded toiletries and guest accessories to luxury hotels and cruises, including The Lanesborough, Sandy Lane, Waldorf Astoria, the Burj al Arab, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Rocco Forte and Sofitel. Pacific Direct has a forecasted turnover of around £24m, according to a statement. Primary specialises in MBOs, buy-outs, buy-ins and development capital in companies across the UK and Europe. This latest transaction represents the fourth investment from Primary's third fund, Primary III.
Waterland Private Equity Investments has divested a majority stake of German arcade operator Löwen Play to AXA Private Equity. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. Löwen Play operates gaming arcades with 4,000 machines and 200 amusement arcades currently under management. Waterland is a private equity firm that focuses on investments in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany with approximately €625m funds under management. The firm recently acquired high-end travel agency Windrose Fernreisen Touristik.
Private equity firm Verax Capital Partners has invested in radio station operator Goodradio.TV. The size of the investment was not disclosed. Goodradio was formed in 2006 and acquires 'hyper-local' radio operations in small to medium markets. Verax focuses on control investments in US companies with revenues ranging from $5-75m.
Publicly listed Aurora Russia has acquired Volzhski Universalny Bank through its holding company Flexinvest. The total investment is worth £6.36m with VUB being purchased for £4.52m. VUB is based in Russia. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Aurora Russia focuses on making equity investments in small and mid-market companies in Russia. The firm recently invested in DIY retailer SuperStroy.
Venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates has invested $30m in software solutions provider Media Bank. Media Banks provides integrated procurement technology and advanced analytics to the advertising industry. NEA focuses its investments on helping entrepreneurs create and build new enterprises that use technology. NEA led a first round of financing in Media Bank worth $10.5m.
Venture firms Accel Partners and Matrix Partners have exited their investment of storage technology company Diligent Technologies with the sale of the business to IBM. Financial terms were not disclosed. Accel and Matrix's initial investment was approximately $22m. Diligent develops in-line data de-duplication software that is integrated with server and storage infrastructures to help organisations significantly reduce the amount and cost of physical storage required in data centers, according to a statement.
New Leaf Venture Partners has led a $25m Series B financing round in biotechnology company Stromedix. Other investors included Bessemer Venture Partners, Red Abbey Venture Partners, Atlas Venture and Frazier Healthcare Ventures. Stromedix focuses on developing innovative therapies for fibrosis. NLV Partners is life-science dedicated with offices in New York and Menlo Park.
UK buy-out specialist Matrix Private Equity Partners has recapitalised construction business Holloway White Alom. The financing took place with £5m of the company's surplus cash and a £12m debt package from Lloyds TSB. Holloway White Allom provides specialist services to the high-end residential and commercial market. This represented Matrix's fifth exit in 2008 following exits from BBI Holdings, Ministry of Cake, Gyro and Apollo Lifts.
Emerging Capital Partners has invested $15.9m in North African banking group BACIM Bank. BACIM is the seventh largest banking group in Mauritania and includes 11 retail and commercial banks. ECP focuses their investments in companies across Africa and currently has £1.2bn under management. The firm recently invested in mobile telecommunications company Cellcom.
Francisco Partners and Elliot Associates have received $80m worth of zero coupon convertible notes from Blue Coat Systems. Blue Coat will use the proceeds to fund its acquisition of Packeteer. Blue Coat secures web communications and accelerates business applications across the distributed enterprise. Elliot Associates is a hedge fund with approximately $10.5bn under management. Francisco Partners is a private equity firm that specialises in investing in technology and technology-enabled businesses.
Health benefits company WellPoint has acquired data analytics business Resolution Health. Financial details were not disclosed. Resolution Health previously secured financing from private equity firm Trident Capital. Resolution's analytics look to improve the quality, coordination and safety of healthcare in order to enhance communications between patients and their physicians and reduce medical costs. Trident is a private equity and venture capital firm with over $1.5bn of capital under management.
Los Angeles-based private equity firm Wedbush Capital Partners has announced a growth equity recapitalisation of affiliated companies Reyn Spooner and Reyn's Menswear. Financial details were not disclosed. Reyn Spooner is a Hawaii-based surf apparel company that sells its clothing through retail store, Reyn's Menswear. Wedbush Capital invests in companies with revenues ranging from $10-50m to facilitate growth, recapitalisations and MBOs. Wedbush is affiliated with Wedbush Morgan Securities.
American Capital Strategies has sold its stake in Anchor Drilling Fluids to private equity firm Castle Harlan. The transaction was valued at approximately $250m. Anchor Drilling Fluids provides drilling fluids and fluid-handling services for onshore oil and gas drilling. American Capital typically focuses on buy-outs, growth investments, acquisitions and recapitalisations. American Capital Strategies led a $21m investment in the company in 2005.
UK private equity firm NVM Private Equity Firm led an MBO of network solutions provider Axial Systems Limited. Details of the MBO were not disclosed. Based in Maidenhead, England, the company works with companies in the financial services, telecommunications and public sectors. NVM is owned by a group of venture capital managers who manage five funds worth approximately £190m. NVM was most recently involved in the acquisition of Phoenix Electrical.
FUNDS
Montecito Medical Investment Company (MMIC), a privately held US real estate company, has launched a new division focused on providing venture capital and partnership opportunities to healthcare companies. Montecito Medical Ventures (MMV) will target investments in medical services and where it has identified strong partners in the local healthcare community. In addition, MMV will also target opportunities in the medical technology field. The new division will operate as a freestanding division of MMIC, which owns over 35 properties in 12 states, in excess of $500m in valuation, according to the firm.
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