Fenway Partners has agreed to sell American Achievement Corp., a provider of class rings and yearbooks, to Herff Jones, a manufacturer and publisher of educational products, recognition awards and graduation-related items. No financial terms were disclosed, but LBO Wire puts the AAC enterprise value at between $600 million and $700 million. PRESS RELEASE Herff Jones, […]
Capital International has raised $2.25 billion for its fifth private equity fund focused on emerging markets. It already has committed approximately 25% of the fund in six investments, including a Russian daily, the Latin American operators of McDonald's. www.capgroup.com
RedShift Ventures, an Arlington, Va.-based early-stage venture firm, has formed an advisory board. Its members are: Frank Bonsal, co-founder of NEA; Renny DiPentima, former CEO of SRA International; Nariman Farvardin, provost and former dean of engineering at the University of Maryland; Tom McDonough, president and COO of Sourcefire; and Tom Ridge, CEO of Ridge Global […]
EoPlex Technologies, a Redwood City, Calif.-based advanced materials company that makes miniature devices to generate, harvest and manage energy, has raised $4 million in Series C-2 funding. The total round now stands at $12 million. ATA Ventures led the expansion, and was joined by fellow return backers Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Labrador Ventures and Draper Richards. […]
Multiwave Photonics, a Maia, Portugal-based developer of pulsed fibre lasers and specialty optical sources, has raised EUR 5 million in Series B funding. FCR Esp
Mu Dynamics (fka Mu Security), a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based provider of network service assurance solutions, has raised $10 million in Series C funding. Focus Ventures led the round, and was joined by return backers Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital and DAG Ventures. The company had previously raised around $15 million. PRESS RELEASE Mu Dynamics, a pioneer in […]
NearbyNow Inc., a Los Altos, Calif.-based company focused on helping retailers use the Internet to drive shoppers to offline stores, has raised $11.75 million in Series C funding. Norwest Venture Partners led the round, and was joined by return backers Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Draper Richards. The company had previously raised $7.5 million. www.nearbynow.com
Molecular Imprints Inc., an Austin, Texas-based developer of nano-imprint lithography systems for high-res and 3-D pattern replication, has raised $12.9 million in fourth-round funding. Return backers include Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tokyo Electron Venture Capital, Wafra Investment Advisory Group, KT Venture Group, Alloy Ventures and Motorola Ventures. The company has now raised $91 million in total […]
AOL has acquired Bebo, a UK-based social networking company, for $850 million. Bebo had raised $15 million in Series A funding from Balderton Capital back in May 2006. ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE AOL announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Bebo (http://www.bebo.com), a leading global social media network. Together with its AIM […]
WetPaint, a Seattle-based social publishing company, has raised $25 million in Series C funding. DAG Ventures co-led the round with an undisclosed “financial investor.” Return backers included Accel Partners, Frazier Technology Ventures and Trinity Ventures. PRESS RELEASE Wetpaint, the leader in social publishing, today announced it has completed a $25 million round of […]