Milestone Partners is expected to start fundraising for its latest pool this summer, a source says. Radnor, Pa.-based Milestone, a lower middle market firm, is looking to raise $350 million, according to the source and a June 2011 document from Pennsylvania's Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS). Milestone Partners IV LP has a $450 million hard cap, PSERS says. The firm’s last fund, Milestone III, raised $240 million in 2008, while the second fund collected $120 million in 2004. Milestone II has a 24.1% IRR while the third fund has an 8.7% IRR, PSERS says (PSERS invested about $30 million in fund II and $60 million in fund III), the document says.
AOL and Fleaflicker, the fantasy football site, are no more. The Internet company sent e-mails to users on Wednesday stating that the company has been acquired by its original founder, Ori Schwartz. Terms of the deal were not publicized. As of July 22, AOL will no longer operate the Fleaflicker service, the company said.
Accel Partners has hit some serious, major home runs. Until the mid-1990s, the venture capital firm included healthcare plays in its investing strategy that focused on tech startups; just as the dot-com bubble began to inflate, Accel shifted its strategy into a more Internet-centric focus. After a lull last decade cost the venture capital firm some of its limited partners, including, reportedly, Harvard, the top-tier VC proved to its critics why it’s the cream of the crop among early-stage investors. But, in fact, Accel has always been a backer of some of America’s biggest businesses since its 1983 founding. From Wal-Mart to Facebook, Accel identified early-stage prowess at some of the most successful enterprises of the last 30 years....
The Carlyle Group and Urgo Hotels have teamed up to buy two landmark hotels in Miami Beach, Florida, paying $26.7 million. The Blue Moon Hotel and Winterhaven Hotel – both in the South Beach area – will undergo major renovations over the next six months. Urgo is based in Bethesda, Md.
(Reuters) – Google will buy more companies to boost its presence in the booming online display ad sector in a challenge to Facebook, even as European regulators examine its dominant web search position. Speaking to a small group of reporters on the sidelines of the Cannes Lions advertising festival, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said the […]
Buyout shop Apollo Global Management completed its acquisition of publicly traded CKx Inc., a company that owns the rights to the name, image and likeness of Elvis Presley; the “American Idol” television series; and other entertainment properties. The deal was valued at about $510 million.
Shares of private equity-backed Bankrate Inc. rose in their stock market debut on Friday, closing at $15.34, or 2.3% above their $15 IPO price. Apax Partners took the company private for $571 million in 2009. Following the IPO, the private equity firm remains the majority shareholder with approximately 70% ownership of Bankrate’s common stock. Bankrate publishes personal finance content online. The company is based in North Palm Beach, Florida.
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Dentsply International beat out a number of private equity firms to buy AstraZeneca’s dental implants and medical devices unit, Reuters reported. Dentsply is paying $1.8 billion in cash for the unit, Astra Tech. The unit, with revenue last year of $535 million, is the third largest dental implants maker in the world, Reuters said. A number of prominent firms were interested in buying Astra Tech, including Bridgepoint, Cinven, PAI Partners and Warburg Pincus.
Taiwan regulators have rejected Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.’s planned $1.6 billion joint buyout of component maker Yageo Corp., Reuters reported. Still, the buyout firm remains “fully committed to its investment” in Yageo, according to a statement on Wednesday by Orion Investment, a company jointly held by KKR and Yageo founder and Chief Executive Pierre T.M. Chen, Reuters reported. KKR initially invested in Yageo in 2007.