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Genovation Focuses on Liquidity From The Start
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 This one is called Genovation Capital, a seed- and early-stage shop that is expected to begin formal fundraising later this quarter. It came together last summer, and includes three partners who previously worked together at television on-demand company Broadbus Inc. (bought by Motorola in 2006 for $189m in cash). They are: Jeff Binder, a Broadbus co-founder who later served as senior director of strategy and M&A for Motorola’s on-demand solutions group; Vin Bisceglia, chairman and CEO of Broadbus from 2004 to 2006; and Dave Fellows, a former Broadbus board member via his role at CTO of Comcast, and a onetime principal with Pilot House Ventures. I spoke with Binder and Bisceglia for nearly an hour this afternoon, and touched on just about every topic other than fundraising (apparently they’ve already retained counsel). My main questions, of course, were about how Genovation would Read more » |
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peHUB Second Opinion 1.5
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Fired: The biggest CEO firings of 2008. (MSNBC)
Gossipy: Wall Street Folly has a photo of George Soros partying with what the blog purports to be his "nieces" on New Years Eve, while afloat on his Octopus yacht. (Wall St. Folly) The Worst: Footnote of 2008 goes to...A. Schulman's fish camp! (Footnoted) Banned Words: This year the lists includes the likes of "Maverick," "staycation," game-changer," "green," and "Wall St./Main St." But I like the ones suggested in the comments of Paul Kedrosky's blog post about it, which includes "Joe the X," "print money" and "unprecedented times." (Read more » |
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Tonka Bay Equity Partners and Boulder Brook Partners have acquired NAI Cranes LLC, a Woburn, Mass.-based provider of custom overhead cranes and related services. No financial terms were disclosed. Read more » |
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TACODA Founder Backs a New Online Ad Platform: Pictela
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 Those familiar with the ad industry will know that Morgan founded both ‘90s ad startup Real Media and behavioral targeting ad network TACODA, which was arguably the best behavioral targeting startup in the space before it was acquired in 2007 by America Online for an undisclosed amount. (Tacoda, founded in 2001, had raised $32 million, including from Union Square Ventures and Rho Ventures. Real Media, founded in 1995, raised $30 million and was sold after the bubble burst for $30 million.) Pictela isn’t responding to interview requests. La Jolla-based Avalon Ventures, which seeded the company along with Morgan (an SEC filing suggests it has raised $1.25 million), isn’t talking, either. Read more » |
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Xobni Corp., a San Francisco-based provider of email analytics software, has raised $7 million in Series B funding. Cisco Systems was joined by return backers Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Baseline Ventures and Atomico. Read more » |
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No Surprises: Buyout Fundraising Falls in 2008
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 It is the buyout market’s first year-over-year fundraising drop since 2002/2003. What’s particularly striking here is that the industry looked poised for a fund-raising increase as of the end of Q3. Sure it didn’t make much intuitive s... |
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Eureka Growth Capital has formed Toxicology Holdings Corp., a provider of substance abuse identification and services for private industry, local governments, law enforcement and medical examiners in the U.S. and Canada. No financial terms were disclosed, except that Sovereign Bank provided a working capital facility. Read more » |
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TraderTools, a New York–based provider of software and services for financial institutions trading foreign currency, has raised $7 million in VC funding from Edison Venture Fund. Company management also provided an additional $500,000. Read more » |
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Sign of the Times: Rubenstein’s Book Suspended Indefinitely
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 While we anxiously await more information on what Jimmy Cayne stuffs in his pipe, let’s take a moment to eulogize at least one book for which the economic collapse is a burden rather than a boon: “Beyond Wall Street: Inside The Rise Of Private Equity And The Future Of Investing,” by David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group. peHUB first discovered the book on Amazon back in May 2007, at which point a HarperCollins rep told us that the release date had been pushed back from August 2007 to early 2008. So we pre-ordered one, and waited. And waited. And waited. Read more » |
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The Final List: 49 PE-Backed Bankruptcies in 2008
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 The auto industry tops the list as worst-hit, claiming 11 of the Ch. 11's. Tied with automotive is retail, with 11 more of the 11's. Three of those are furniture retailers. Beyond that it's a toss-up with transportation + airlines claiming six, three media properties, three consumer products vendors, and two restaurants. Four of the companies have emerged from bankruptcy; several others have headed for Chapter 7 liquidation. For the record, it's nice to revisit the 2007 list, which included all of Read more » |
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Ron Marshall has joined Borders Group as chief executive officer, replacing George Jones. He previously was co-founding principal of private equity firm Wildridge Capital Management. Read more » |
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Private Equity Firm Vs. Portfolio Company CEO?
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 Back in September, RPG and Rake seemed to believe they were under attack from larger rival American Greetings. Specifically, they were upset about American Greetings buying over 50% of Recycled Paper’s first-lien debt. Rake referred to the move as “predatory,” and Monitor Clipper filed suit against American Greetings, arguing that the purchase violated a confidentiality agreement between the two companies. Then last week it appeared that the chill had thawed. American Greetings announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire RPG, which would first file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to restructure its debt. In a formal statement, Rake said: “This acquisition is good news for our company on many fronts.” Read more » |
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The Carlyle Group has completed its sale of AxleTech International to General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) for an undisclosed amount. Carlyle acquired AxleTech in late 2005 from Wynnchurch Capital. The company makes parts for military vehicles, commercial specialty trucks and off-highway machines.
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Edward Scolnick and Finny Kuruvilla have joined Clarus Ventures as a venture partner and principal, respectively. Scolnick is the former president of Merck Research Labs, and most recently was director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research. Kuruvilla previously was with the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, where he led a collaborative effort with Affymetrix in medical genetics. Read more » |
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Published Secondary Prices Are “Stale;” Venture Worse-Off Than PE
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 The findings are disheartening for any hopeful investor with stakes in the market and very exciting for buyers of distressed LP stakes. The average high bid for buyout and VC secondary assets declined to 61% of NAV in the second half of 2008, compared with the first half, the study says. Notably, the drop marks the lowest level for secondary prices since 2003, since it’s on the heels of an 84.7% decline in the first half of 2008. Read more » |
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NuCO2 Inc., a Stuart, Fla.-based provider of bulk CO2 products and services to the U.S. fountain beverage industry, has acquired the bulk CO2 beverage carbonation business of Franklin, Tenn.-based nextAir. No financial terms were disclosed, except that NuCO2 expects the deal to add approximately $13 million in annual revenue. Aurora Capital Group took NoCO2 private last May for approximately $487 million. Read more » |
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Leigh Clifford has joined Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. as a senior advisor. He is the current chairman of Qantas Airways, and the former CEO of Rio Tinto. Read more » |
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peHUB First Read
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 * If you want Q4 data, we've got it. Click here to download a 40-page M&A review (including PE-sponsored deals and league tables) from Thomson Reuters. And if you want even more, here's a supplement that includes detailed emerging markets data. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, Vodafone and miners help lift FTSE early, other European shares rise, Nikkei hits two-month high and Hong Kong reaches one-month mark. * Simon Dumenco claims HuffingtonPost is only worth about $2 million, despite its $200 million valuation from venture capitalists. Rafat Ali calls bullshit. * The SEC investigated Bernie Madoff at least eight times over the past 16 years. That almost makes it worse, doesn't it? Read more » |
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Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: New Year’s Edition
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While you were tearing into your neatly packaged gifts last weekend, Netscape cofounder Jim Clark and his glamorous fiancée, Kristy Hinze, were greeting friends at their engagement party at a mansion in Point Piper, an affluent harbor town east of Sydney, Australia. Unfortunately, for the couple, they were also swatting back Australian paparazzi, who are as seemingly obsessed Hinze, an Australian model and actress, as we are with Jennifer Aniston. According to Australia’s Daily Telegraph, despite a small invite list and the last-minute text message that directed invitees to the party just hours before it began — a number of photographers arrived in time to capture the A list guests. Meanwhile, at Google’s holiday party, employees were apparently abuzz over what ... |
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One Equity Partners has agreed to acquire the remaining 66.75% stake in Columbian Chemicals Holding LLC that it does not already own, for $150 million. The seller is South Korea-based DC Chemical Co., which partnered with One Equity to buy Columbian Chemicals in 2006 for $600 million from Phelps Dodge Corp. |
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