Amedica Corp., a Salt Lake City, Utah-based orthopaedic implant company, completed a $30 million financing. Half comes in the form of private equity and the rest is from a debt facility. Zions First National Bank provided the debt facility. America plans to use the capital for expansion, mergers and acquisitions, sales and marketing support.
Susquehanna Growth Equity LLC and technology services veteran Brad Galle acquired the JK Group Inc., a provider of technology solutions for corporate philanthropic management programs. Galle will serve as chief executive officer.
The secondaries market is heating up, with price increases causing some to consider strategic sales and others to buy, according to Pension & Investments. Prices have been rising for the last 9 to 12 months to about 90% of face value and prices are now expected to level off, the story said. Among those looking to sell some of their PE holdings include the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board of Montreal.
BC Partners is offering investors of a planned 6 billion euro fund (US $7.7 billion) an early bird discount of 5% off its fees, the Financial Times said. BC Partners, which is marketing for its ninth fund, sent out a placement memo to potential investors last week. The PE shop is also offering to reimburse all its transaction fees to investors, up from only 80 per cent in its previous fund. According to information sent to potential investors, BC Partners’ most recent 5.8 billion Euro fund is more than 80 per cent invested with a portfolio that is valued at 50% above cost, well ahead of most peers, the FT said.
It’s the Friday before the Labor Day weekend and I’m amazed at how many PE execs are answering their phones. One buyout exec, who hasn’t answered my calls or messages for nearly a month, finally phoned. The exec said they were busy working on a deal that they hoped to finish by Labor Day. Another PE source called today to talk about a transaction that was finally closing (an exit!). Bankers weren’t much different. One source said they took a vacation last week (to Jamaica) and was working this week. And another, who is also laboring on a deal, planned to stay in town and deal with Earl (which at this point has turned out to be a whole lot of nothing). “I’m weathering the hurricane here in New York,” the banker said.
While many people may still be talking about the BK sale, there is another deal that has the potential to be a whopper. Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance is thinking about selling Russell Investments. Before you laugh, a Russell sale would be a big deal in the asset management space. Anyone who has invested in the stock market knows Russell, which is best known as the index provider behind many biggest mutual funds. Northwestern Mutual has decided that Russell Investments isn’t a core asset anymore and is seriously considering putting the $140 billion asset manager up for sale, according to Investment News. Northwestern Mutual bought Russell in 1998 in a deal that was estimated at $1.2 billion. Earlier this year, Russell sold Pantheon Ventures, its PE firm, to Affiliated Managers Group for $775 million.
NetSteps, a Pleasant Grove, Utah-based maker of business applications for real-time management of direct sales channel companies, hired Kevin Vitale as chief executive officer. He was Wall Data Inc.’s president and CEO. Gemini Investors LLC also made an unspecified investment in NetSteps. The Wellesley, Mass.-based shop typically invests $3 million to $8 million per transaction.
SportsMEDIA Technology Corp. secured $12.5 million in growth capital funding from Vicente Capital Partners. The Durham, N.C. provider of graphics, statistics and video used for sports broadcasts, plans to use the capital to accelerate the launch of new products and to switch current products to its next generation software platform.
White Deer Energy L.P. agreed to invest $60 million in PostRock Energy Corp. (Nasdaq: PSTR) in exchange for preferred stock and warrants. PostRock explores, develops and produces oil and natural gas primarily in the Cherokee Basin of Kansas and Oklahoma. It will use the funds to reduce its debt and to fund growth. White Deer is an energy-focused private equity firm. It set up a reserve of $30 million to potentially make additional investments in PostRock.
(Reuters) - Private equity firm Silverfleet Capital is seeking to sell Sterigenics, the Chicago-based firm whose gamma-ray sterilisation technology is used by medical device makers, sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Silverfleet is hoping the business, which it bought in 2004, will fetch about $800 million and expects it will attract interest from private equity firms and trade bidders, the sources said. Silverfleet declined comment. Sterigenics's listed competitors include Steris Corp (STE.N) and Canada's MDS Nordion (MDS.TO).