Private Equity
S*BIO Pte Ltd. of Singapore has granted San Diego-based Tragara Pharmaceuticals a global exclusive license to develop and commercialize multi-kinase inhibitor SB1317. Under terms of the agreement, S*BIO is eligible to receive up to $112.5 million in payments, including both up-front fees and earn-outs. S*BIO has raised over $26 million from firms like Aravis Capital, Bio*One Capital, Lacuna Apo BioTech Fund and Zurcher Kantonalbank. Tragara Pharma has raised $40 million from Domain Associates, ProQuest Investments, Morgenthaler Ventures, Oxford Biosceince Partners and Mitsubishi International Corp.
3 min read · 21 January 2009
Dydacomp , a Totowa, N.J.-based provider of business automation solutions, has acquired LaGarde (a.k.a. StoreFront.net), a Kansas City-based provider of ecommerce solutions for small and mid-sized businesses. No financial terms were disclosed, although the Kansas City Business Journal places the sale price at approximately $2.78 million. Dydacomp backer Milestone Partners helped sponsor the acquisition, with Dydacom lenders Churchill Financial and Madison Capital participating on the debt side. LaGarde had raised around $7.5 million from Shasta Ventures, before going bankrupt last fall.
3 min read · 21 January 2009
Meez, a San Francisco-based social entertainment community, has raised an undisclosed amount of VC funding led by Anthem Venture Partners. The company also acquired Pulse Entertainment Inc., a San Francisco-based provider of avatar messaging services for mobile phones and websites. Meez had previously raised VC funding from Battery Ventures and Transcosmos, while Pulse had raised over $50 million from firms like Anthem, DFJ, El Dorado Ventures, Encore Venture Partners and Mobius Venture Capital.
3 min read · 15 January 2009
Rally Software Development Corp., a Boulder, Colo.-based provider of on-demand application life cycle management solutions, has acquired 6th Sense Analytics Inc., a Morrisville, N.C.-based provider of on-demand automated metrics collection and analysis solution for development organizations. No financial terms were disclosed. Rally Software has raised over $35 million in VC funding, from firms like Mohr Davidow Ventures, Boulder Ventures, Mobius Venture Capital and Vista Ventures. 6th Sense had raised around $6.5 million from Core Capital Partners and InterSouth Partners.
2 min read · 14 January 2009
ExpertPlan, an East Windsor, N.J.-based private-label retirement plan record-keeper, has acquired Actuarial Enterprises Inc., a Newtown, Penn.-based third party administrator. No financial terms were disclosed. ExpertPlan has raised over $18 million between 2000 and 2004, from firms like Bridge Partners, BaseCamp Ventures, Milestone Venture Partners, Meridian Venture Partners, First Analysis Corp. Argentum Group, Paddington Venture Capital, Liberty Venture Partners, Gamma Investors, NextLevel Group and SeaCap Ventures.
2 min read · 13 January 2009
Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) has agreed to acquire Ablation Frontiers Inc., a Carlsbad, Calif.-based medical device company focused on developing treatments for irregular heart rhythms. The deal includes an up-front payment of $225 million, plus possible earn-outs based on the achieving of clinical milestones. Ablation Frontiers had raised around $40.3 million in VC funding since 2004, from firms like Novartis Venture Fund, Affinity Ventures, Hexagon Investments, Trellis Health Ventures, Versant Ventures, Aberdare Ventures and Pequot Ventures.
3 min read · 12 January 2009
SolarWinds, an Austin, Texas-based provider of network management software for the SMB/SME market, has acquired the tech products and development team of New Zealand-based Kiwi Enterprises. No financial terms were disclosed. SolarWinds is in registration for a $250 million IPO, and has raised around $48.5 million in VC funding from Bain Capital Ventures (31.6% pre-IPO stake), Insight Venture Partners (31.6%) and Austin Ventures (3.4%).
3 min read · 07 January 2009
Force10 Networks Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of network routing and switching equipment, has agreed to merge with Turin Networks Inc., a Petaluma, Calif.-based Ethernet services provider. No financial terms have been disclosed. Force10 has raised over $400 million in total VC funding since 1999, from firms like Advanced Equities, Crosslink Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Meritech Capital Partners, U.S. Venture Partners, Pacesetter Capital and Worldview Technology Partners. Turin Networks has raised over $250 million since 1999, from firms like Bay Partners, Sequoia Capital, Tellabs, Motorola Ventures, Ciena Corp., Millennium Private Equity, DCM, Baker Capital, Tudor Ventures, Advanced Equities and RWI Group.
4 min read · 06 January 2009
U.S. HealthWorks Medical Group, a provider of outpatient occupational healthcare services in California, has acquired two California clinics: First Care Occupational Medical Group in Valencia, and First Care Walk-In Medical Group in Saugus. No financial terms were disclosed. U.S. HealthWorks has raised around $131 million since 1996. Current shareholders include Three Arch Partners, Salix Ventures, AIG Altaris Health Partners and Dynamic Healthcare Solutions.
2 min read · 05 January 2009
2008 was the slowest year from VC-backed liquidity events since 2003, according to new data from Dow Jones VentureSource. The year saw only $24.1 billion in IPO and M&A exit value, which was down 58% from the $57.6 billion produced in 2007. This included a fourth quarter without a single IPO.
4 min read · 02 January 2009
