Eamon Murphy
Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. announced the retirement of Kip Hagopian as chairman of the board, to be succeeded by current board member William P. Sullivan. Hagopian, a general partner and founder of private equity and venture capital firm Brentwood Associates, was a founding investor in Maxim, which provides analog integration services to industrial and data-driven businesses.
To wrap up your Wednesday, Google plays the do-gooder by banning ads from predatory lenders, but the FTC is once again asking questions about possible antitrust violations. Meanwhile regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are cracking down on mergers between competitors.
Marquee Dental Partners, which is backed by Chicago Pacific Founders, entered into an affiliation agreement with Signature Smile, a multi-specialty dental practice with locations in Florence and Huntsville, Alabama. Marquee Dental, which affiliates with dental offices in growth markets, now operates 11 practices in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky.
Insurance broker and consultant NFP, which is owned by Madison Dearborn Partners, promoted Kim Davis to executive vice president, chief human resources officer. In addition to heading NFP's internal human resources programs, Davis led the company's expansion in HR consulting. She previously co-founded a benefits procurement consortium specializing in private equity that was acquired by NFP in 2012.
Antares Capital announced it is supporting Kohlberg & Company's acquisition of Interstate Hotels & Resorts. Antares is serving as administrative agent, joint leader arranger and joint bookrunner on $198 million of debt financing for the transaction. Interstate is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, and operates 425 properties in the United States and nine foreign countries.
KRG Capital Fund IV, L.P. portfolio company ATI Physical Therapy completed its sale to Advent International. Jeffries and UBS served as financial advisors and Hogan Lovells served as legal advisor to ATI.
Ascent Venture Partners led a $12.9 million Series B funding round in Pwnie Express, a device threat detection provider. MassMutual Ventures LLC and existing investors .406 Ventures, Fairhaven Capital and the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies also participated.
ORI Healthcare Fund L.P. completed an $18 million investment into Boston-based Pillar Biosciences Inc., a genetic oncology testing start-up. The investment will be used to continue R&D into tumor tissue analytics and to add liquid biopsy products.
Riyadh Valley Company, the venture capital investment arm of King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, led a Series C funding round in Sol Voltaics, a Swedish advanced materials start-up. Long-term investors Umoe, FAM, Industrifonden and Nano Future Invest also contributed to the $12.5 million in equity. The Swedish Energy Agency and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research program kicked in an additional $4.5 million in grants.
Beijing-based private equity fund E-Town Dragon completed its previously announced acquisition of Mattson Technology Inc., a provider of semiconductor wafer processing equipment. Mattson stockholders will receive $3.80 per share in cash.