Eamon Murphy

Antares arranges $198 mln financing for Kohlberg's acquisition of Interstate Hotels

Antares Capital announced it is supporting Kohlberg & Company's acquisition of Interstate Hotels & Resorts. Antares is serving as administrative agent, joint leader arranger and joint bookrunner on $198 million of debt financing for the transaction. Interstate is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, and operates 425 properties in the United States and nine foreign countries.

KRG-backed ATI Physical Therapy sold to Advent International

KRG Capital Fund IV, L.P. portfolio company ATI Physical Therapy completed its sale to Advent International. Jeffries and UBS served as financial advisors and Hogan Lovells served as legal advisor to ATI.

Ascent leads $12.9 mln Series B in threat detection platform Pwnie Express

Ascent Venture Partners led a $12.9 million Series B funding round in Pwnie Express, a device threat detection provider. MassMutual Ventures LLC and existing investors .406 Ventures, Fairhaven Capital and the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies also participated.

ORI Healthcare Fund invests $18 mln in genetic cancer test startup Pillar Biosciences

ORI Healthcare Fund L.P. completed an $18 million investment into Boston-based Pillar Biosciences Inc., a genetic oncology testing start-up. The investment will be used to continue R&D into tumor tissue analytics and to add liquid biopsy products.

Sol Voltaics raises $17 mln in grant funding, Series C led by Riyadh Valley

Riyadh Valley Company, the venture capital investment arm of King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, led a Series C funding round in Sol Voltaics, a Swedish advanced materials start-up. Long-term investors Umoe, FAM, Industrifonden and Nano Future Invest also contributed to the $12.5 million in equity. The Swedish Energy Agency and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research program kicked in an additional $4.5 million in grants.

Chinese PE firm E-Town Dragon closes acquisition of Mattson Technology

Beijing-based private equity fund E-Town Dragon completed its previously announced acquisition of Mattson Technology Inc., a provider of semiconductor wafer processing equipment. Mattson stockholders will receive $3.80 per share in cash.

Calera Capital hires logistics exec Bob Bianco as operating partner

Middle-market private equity firm Calera Capital appointed Bob Bianco as operating partner. Formerly CEO of Menlo Worldwide, Bianco is to assist with investments in transportation and supply chain management, committing $40 to $200 million of equity per investment, with a focus on "third party logistics".

Sodali acquires Morrow & Co. to form new consulting firm

Corporate governance and shareholder services firm Sodali Inc. acquired Morrow & Co., LLC of Stamford, CT, to form Morrow Sodali Global LLC. Investment banking firm Sperry, Mitchell & Company, Inc. initiated the transaction and served as financial advisor to Morrow & Co., a provider of proxy solicitation and corporate governance consulting services.

Frontier invests $31 million in software test provider Zephyr

Frontier Capital invested $31 million in Zephyr, a Newark, California-based provider of software test management solutions. Zephyr's products are sold directly to companies and through the Atlassian Marketplace. Based in Charlotte, Frontier invests exclusively in companies offering software and technology-based business services.

Huron Capital adds Grand Rapids Auto Auction to its XLerate Group

Huron Capital Partners LLC portfolio company The XLerate Group, which provides dealer-to-dealer auction services in the used car business, acquired Grand Rapids Auto Auction. The transaction is XLerate's second expansion in Michigan, and GRAA is now the seventh member of the XLerate Group.