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Weekly Deals and Funds Roundup: 10 September 200810/09/2008. 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
ImVisioN Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company involved in intralymphatic immunotherapy, has raised CHF4.6m in a Series A round led by Aravis Venture Associates with the participation of founding investor Nextech Venture and private individuals. The funding is for the clinical development of IVN201, ImVisioN's lead product for the treatment of cat dander allergies. Swiss-based Aravis is a venture firm focusing on biotech and renewable energy. It has invested in more than 80 companies worldwide. Nextech Venture is also Swiss-based and runs three healthcare venture funds totalling $137m in assets.
Munich-based invendo medical, a developer of disposable endoscopy products, has raised €4.5m in a financing round co-led by new investors, Wellington Partners and TVM Capital. Existing investor Heidelberg Innovation also participated in the financing, which will allow invendo to complete the development of its 'invendoscope' through regulatory approval in the US. Wellington Partners, a pan-European venture firm, has €800m under management and has invested in more than 100 companies in Europe. TVM has approximately €820m under management.
UK venture firm The Capital Fund has invested in two London-based catering companies, White Circle Organisation, trading mainly as Couture, and Hummus Bros. White Circle, in which The Capital Fund invested £250,000, operates a wide array of branded café, restaurant and food hall outlets in London and beyond, focusing on British classic cuisine, using high quality, locally-sourced ingredients. Hummus Bros is a chain of fast food restaurants in London serving snacks and meals with hummus as a base. Hummus Bros will use the new funds to open new outlets in London. White Circle currently has eight outlets, operating under the Couture brand. White Circle will use the new investment from The Capital Fund to develop new locations. Established in 2002, The Capital Fund is a £50m venture capital fund that backs fast-growing small and medium-sized companies in the Greater London area.
Old Mutual Investment Group's Alternative Investments Boutique, a South African investment bank, has acquired a 25 per cent stake in credit management specialists Real People, a company in which Aureos Southern Africa Fund initially acquired a seven per cent stake in 2006. Financial terms were not disclosed. Real People provides a range of personal finance and insurance products. It employs more than 1,500 people in over 120 branches across South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana, Malawi, Swaziland and Lesotho. Other investors in Real People include the Dutch Bank FMO, senior executives, management and a Black Economic Empowerment Consortium headed by South African businessman Herman Mashaba.
US Saints Capital has acquired interests in ten companies from Innovacom Gestion, an early stage investor in Europe and North America. As part of the transaction, Saints will acquire all of the Innovacom shares in Actelis Networks, Air2Web, Aperto Networks, Envivio, Kirusa, KXEN, Netasq, Selligent and Xtime, as well as a partial share position in Witbe.Net. Financial terms were not disclosed. Saints focuses on the acquisition and management of venture capital portfolios on a secondary basis. Saints manages funds with investments in over 175 companies totalling approximately $2bn in originally invested capital. Paris-based Innovacom has approximately $600m under management.
New York-based buy-out firm Harvest Partners has sold its remaining interests in New Flyer Holdings, a manufacturer of transit buses in the US and Canada. Financial terms were not disclosed. Harvest acquired New Flyer in February 2004 in partnership with management and subsequently took the company public through an IPO of Income Deposit Securities on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2005. Subsequent to the IPO, Harvest exited its remaining investment in New Flyer in three separate transactions during 2007 and 2008, including this recent one. Harvest Partners has approximately $1.7bn in capital under management.
American Capital has provided $110m of financing for YORK Label, a provider of pressure sensitive labels for the consumer products, wine and spirits, food and beverage and pharmaceutical markets. American Capital invested $67m in the transaction, while serving as co-syndication agent on the senior debt and lead investor on the mezzanine debt. American Capital's financing package supports the acquisition of the company by Diamond Castle Holdings. American Capital has approximately $20bn under management and over 290 portfolio companies. Diamond Castle is a private equity firm with over $1.85bn under management.
mydeco, the online intermediary for the home design market, has raised £7.35m in a second round of funding led by Sofinnova Partners, including other participants SRPE, Amadeus Capital Partners and Burda Cross Media. This investment follows a seed round last year led by SPARK Ventures (who remain a major shareholder) and takes the total funding raised by mydeco to date to over £12.5m. mydeco aims to become the leading marketplace for consumers and suppliers of home design and furnishing.
New York-based MVC Capital together with Riga Capital has invested $28.1m in FIMA , Lithuanian-based systems integrator. The investment will be used to support FIMA's Eastern European expansion plans. Riga Capital is an investment and advisory company investing in growth companies in the wider Baltic Sea region.
AIG Investments has invested $38.6m in Advento Participações, an engineering services provider in Brazil. The investment will come from AIG Brazil Special Situations Fund II, which closed in this April on $691.9m. The fund focuses on direct investments primarily in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. With this investment, Advento will acquire Serpal Engenharia e Construtora, a Brazilian construction company with a 35-year track record. The investment in Advento will be the fourth for AIG Investments' BSSF II, following investments in Companhia Providência, a manufacturer of non-woven fabrics in Latin America, and Falcon Farms, an integrated grower and distributor of fresh cut flowers with production based in Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico. Most recently, AIG Investments announced an investment in Calyx Agro, a venture sponsored by Louis Dreyfus Commodities to acquire, develop, operate and sell agricultural land in Latin America, primarily in Brazil.
MyHeritage, a popular family website, has raised $15m from venture capital firms Index Ventures, an investor in Skype, and Accel Partners, an investor in Facebook. With a network of more than 25 million family members worldwide, more than 260 million profiles, and 230 million photos, MyHeritage has become the second largest online destination for families. The company will be using the investment to expand the team, establish commercial operations in London and continue building upon its history of translating advanced technology into a consumer-friendly service. Index Ventures' partner Saul Klein will join Simon Levene of Accel Partners on the board of MyHeritage.
Private equity firms M/C Venture Partners and Banc of America Capital Investors have jointly acquired AccentHealth, a digital out-of-home media company providing patient health education in physician offices in the US, from Ascent Media, a subsidiary of Discovery Holding Company. M/C Venture Partners and Banc of America Capital Investors are private equity investors with extensive experience in the media and entertainment sectors.
North Bridge Growth Equity, a growth equity firm which invests in technology and technology-enabled companies, has made a minority investment of $30m in Leapfrog Online, a digital direct marketing firm. The capital will be used to help accelerate Leapfrog Online's growth initiatives, through both organic and acquired growth. North Bridge is currently investing from the $545m North Bridge Growth Equity Fund I. NBGE is co-located and affiliated with North Bridge Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital firm. Both firms have a total of $3.2b of capital under management.
FUNDS
The Mercanti Group, an investment banking firm specialising in financial advisory transactions for the consumer products and services industries, has formed CoVestia Capital Partners, a private equity co-investment fund, with initially $30m in committed capital. CoVestia's investors include principals of Mercanti, institutional investors, Mercanti board members and former clients. Mercanti is affiliated with Marquette Financial Companies.
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