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San Mateo, Calif.-based private equity firm Bertram Capital has promoted Ryan Craig and Stephanie Ho to principal. Craig joined the firm in 2006, and focuses on the healthcare and consumer sectors. Ho joined in 2007 and focuses on healthcare investments. The promotions follow the closing of the firm’s $500 million second fund, Bertram Growth Capital II.
The Carlyle Group is acquiring CommScope, a maker of infrastructure products for wireless carriers, in a $3.9 billion deal. The Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm will pay $31.50 per share for the Hickory, N.C.-based company, a 36% premium over CommScope’s closing price Friday, the last day of trading before buyout negotiations were announced. The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2011.
Negotiations to sell United Biscuits, a UK-based company owned by private equity firms Blackstone Group and PAI Partners, to Shanghai-based Bright Food Group, have stalled, Reuters reported, citing the Wall Street Journal. The deal reportedly could have been valued at more that 2 billion pounds ($3.17 billion).
Tynt Multimedia, which creates analytics products for online publishers, has named David Mandelbrot chief business officer. Previously Mandelbrot served as vice president and general manager of Yahoo’s media and entertainment group. San Francisco-based Tynt was formed in 2007 and is backed by venture capital firms including Panorama Venture Capital.
San Francisco-based private equity firm Francisco Partners has agreed to buy Source Photonics, a producer of optical communications components used in telecom systems, in a deal valued at $146 million. The deal will include $113 million in cash and about $33 million in assumed debt. Source Photonics is a business unit of network infrastructure company MRV Communications. MRV has headquarters in Los Angeles and Boston.
John Sider has joined Pennsylvania-based Ben Franklin Technology Partners as managing director of statewide initiatives. Sider was previously the Deputy Secretary for Technology Investment for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Ben Franklin Technology Partners provides early stage funding for technology companies located in Pennsylvania.
BankUnited, a Florida bank owned by private equity firms, is expected to file for an initial public offering this week, Reuters reported. Financial details were not disclosed. BankUnited was acquired last year by a consortium of private equity firms including Washington, D.C.-based The Carlyle Group and New York-based Blackstone Group.
Growth equity firm General Atlantic has named J. Frank Brown managing director. Since 2006, Brown has served as dean of INSEAD, an international business school with campuses in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He will join General Atlantic in June 2011. Greenwich, Conn.-based General Atlantic manages roughly $15 billion in capital.
China National BlueStar, a Chinese chemical company backed by the private equity firm Blackstone Group, is in talks to buy part or all of Norway’s Elkem, according to Reuters. Elkem, a unit of Norway’s Orkla ASA, produces solar silicon products. Reuters estimated a potential takeover of Elkem at around $1 billion.
Dallas-based private equity firm Insight Equity Holdings has acquired Saiia Construction, a site construction and civil maintenance company focused on the mineral industry. Saiia is based in Birmingham, Alabama. Financial terms of the deal were not released.