I've been a business reporter for a while. I've covered Wall Street, venture capital and now private equity. I'm always looking for a scoop or something to talk about. I'm the eternal optimist and am still waiting for the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series. Yes, I believe.
Kaiima Bio-Agritech said Tuesday it raised more than US$65 million in equity from three new investors as well as some current ones. The three new investors are: Horizons Ventures, the International Financial Corp., a member of the World Bank Group; and Infinity Group, a China-focused, private equity fund. Existing investors include: DFJ, DFJ-Tamir Fishman, Mitsui, KPCB, Oberlee and Musea Ventures. Kaiima is an Israel-based, seed and breeding-technology company.
4 min read · 03 September 2013
Xavier Moreels and Nigel Daly have joined Oppenheimer Europe, a unit of Oppenheimer Holdings. Moreels and Daly will establish Oppenheimer's European Technology and Telecoms Investment Banking franchise. Moreels joins Oppenheimer as an MD, European Head of Technology and Telecoms, Investment Banking, while Daly is Executive Director, Technology and Telecoms. Most recently, Moreels was at ING where he was Global TMT Sector Head. Daly joined Piper Jaffray in 2006 as a Director in their European technology investment banking team, before leaving in 2009 to set up his own advisory boutique.
3 min read · 03 September 2013
Baird Capital said Tuesday that Nicole Walker and David Gregorka have joined the Venture Capital group. Both will focus on investment opportunities in the healthcare sector. Walker, who joins Baird as a director, was previously Director of Venture Investments for Abbott Ventures. She is based in Chicago. Gregorka previously co-founded HealthMedia, now called Wellness & Prevention, a Johnson & Johnson Co. Gregorka, who is based in Ann Arbor, Mich., is a venture partner. Baird Capital is the direct private investment arm of Robert W. Baird & Co.
3 min read · 03 September 2013
USA Compression Partners said Friday it closed its previously announced buy of compression assets owned by S&R Compression, which is controlled by Argonaut Private Equity. USA Compression, a portfolio company of Riverstone Holdings, said it is also buying 66 newly built compression units fabricated between July 1 and August 30 of this year for about $12 million cash, as well as a $4 million cash payment related to the operation of compression assets. Argonaut, and other S&$ Compression owners, now hold a 20% LP stake in USAC.
2 min read · 03 September 2013
Private equity firms are dominating Crestview Partners' sale of Munder Capital Management, peHUB is reporting.
1 min read · 30 August 2013
Private equity firm Blackstone Group LP's real estate unit is set to take over Netherlands-based real estate company Multi Corp following the completion of its restructuring, Bloomberg reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
1 min read · 30 August 2013
Calamos Investments said Thursday that James Boyne, the firm's president and COO, would be leaving effective Sept. 30. The departure was planned, Calamos said. Calamos said it does not plan to replace the role of President and COO, and Boyne's responsibilities will be assumed by other senior leaders. Naperville, Ill.-based Calamos is an investment management firm.
2 min read · 30 August 2013
ObsEva said Thursday that it closed a CHF 32 million (US$34.5 million) series A financing round led by Sofinnova Partners, and co-led by Sofinnova Ventures and Novo A/S. ObsEva also signed a licensing agreement with Merck Serono. As part of the deal, MS Ventures, Merck Serono's corporate venture fund, has taken a minority stake in ObsEva. Geneva-based ObsEva is a speciality biopharmaceutical company that is developing drugs for women's reproductive medicine.
5 min read · 29 August 2013
Citadel LLC, Virtu Financial, Two Sigma and RGM Advisors are among the companies bidding for E*Trade Financial Corp's market-making unit in a deal expected to be worth $100 million to $200 million, sources told Reuters.
3 min read · 28 August 2013
Lendio has completed a $4.5 million Series B round of funding led by Runa Capital. Current investors Tribeca Venture Partners and Highway 12 Ventures also participated. South Jordan, Utah-based Lendio helps companies find business loans.
3 min read · 28 August 2013
