Last week, W. Townsend Ziebold jumped to First Beverage Group, a boutique financial services firm catering to the beverage industry. He joined First Beverage from Bruce Wasserstein’s PE firm, Wasserstein & Co. Townsend has over 25 years in investment banking and private equity. He’s been a banker with First Boston Corp. and Wasserstein Perella, which was acquired by Dresdner Bank in 2000 (The merchant bank of WP was spun off in 2000 to form Wasserstein & Co.). Townsend has worked on some major deals, including KKR’s purchase of RJR Nabisco and SmithKline's merger with the Beecham Group. At Wasserstein & Co., he worked on the buys of IMAX Corp., Maybelline Cosmetics and Turtle Mountain, a leading producer of non-dairy desserts. Townsend, 49, officially joined First Beverage on May 9. I spoke to him by phone last week.
4 min read · 16 May 2011
Kenyan telecoms company Wananchi Group has raised $57.5 million from investors including Liberty Global Inc., Oppenheimer Funds and Sarona Asset Management, Reuters reported. The infusion of capital is aimed at helping the company expand its fibre infrastructure and launch a satellite pay-television service across eastern Africa. Wananchi Group is owned by venture capital firm East Africa Capital Partners.
1 min read · 16 May 2011
2 min read · 13 May 2011
Enterprise middle-ware company WSO2 has raised $6.5 million in growth financing from Quest Software Inc. and Intel Capital. The money will help WSO2 expand its operations, marketing, sales and support teams. WSO2 is based in Palo Alto, Calif.
4 min read · 13 May 2011
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Friday that it has taken a minority stake in the holding company of Yihaodian, an eCommerce company in China. The deal is expected to close within 60 days. Three-year-old Yihaodian sells products online ranging from groceries to consumer electronics and clothing.
2 min read · 13 May 2011
Online games developer We R Interactive has raised $5 million in a second round of financing. The company’s shareholders include Paul Fitzsimons, former partner at Apax Partners; and Elio Leoni-Sceti, former chief executive of EMI Music. The money will help support development of the company’s first game – I AM PLAYR – which launched in March.
4 min read · 13 May 2011
2 min read · 12 May 2011
4 min read · 12 May 2011
6 min read · 12 May 2011
TOA Technologies, a provider of mobile workforce management software for businesses, has closed on $17.2 million in Series D financing. Sutter Hill Ventures led the round, which includes existing investors Intel Capital and Draper Triangle Ventures. Additional new shareholders include Draper Fisher Jurvetson founder Tim Draper and Fort Washington Capital Partners Group. Andy Sheehan, a managing director at Sutter Hill Ventures, will join the company’s board. TOA Technologies is based in Cleveland.
3 min read · 12 May 2011
