Emerging Capital Partners of Washington, D.C. has closed its second EMP Africa Fund with $523 million in capital commitments. The fund will seek minority or majority equity positions in companies throughout Africa, with a focus on larger markets such as Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya. www.ecpinvestments.com
Imperium Renewables Inc., a Seattle-based biodeisel producer, has filed for a $345 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol IMPR, with Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers serving as co-lead underwriters. Imperium is run by former venture capitalist Martin Tobias, and has raised funding from such firms as Nth Power, Technology […]
Duff & Phelps Corp., a New York-based provider of financial advisory and I-banking services, has filed for a $200 million IPO. It plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol DUF, with Goldman Sachs and UBS serving as co-lead underwriters. Shareholders include Lovell Minnick Partners and Vestar Capital Partners. Lovell Minnick sponsored a management […]
Vitamin Shoppe Inc., a North Bergen, N.J.-based retailer and direct marketer of vitamins, minerals, supplements and other nutritional products, has filed for a $150 million IPO. It plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol VSI, with Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Banc of America Securities serving as co-led underwriters. Bear Stearns Merchant Banking […]
Google has agreed to buy RSS management company Feedburner for $100 million, according to TechCrunch. “The deal is all cash and mostly upfront, according to our source, although the founders will be locked in for a couple of years,” TC reports.Feedburner, based in Chicago, had raised $10.2 million over three rounds since 2004, according to […]
Prolacta Bioscience, a Monrovia, Calif.-based developer of a human milk fortifier for infants neonatal intensive care units, has raised $12 million in Series C funding. Alta Partners led the deal, and was joined by DFJ Frontier, Arcturus Capital, DFJ Mercury, Funk Ventures, Phillip Capital, Gideon Hixon Fund and Draper Associates. In other Prolacta news, the […]
Jeffrey Greiner has joined Norwest Equity Partners as an operating partner, focused on standalone and add-on opportunities within the technology and business services markets. He was a founding partner of Wessels, Arnold & Henderson, which was acquired by Dain Rauscher in 1998. RBC Capital Markets acquired Dain Rauscher Wessels in 2001. www.nep.com
Fletcher Building Ltd. of New Zealand has agreed to acquire Formica Corp. from Cerberus Capital Management and Oaktree Capital Management. The deal is valued at $700 million, plus up to $50 million in deferred payments. The sellers will retain Formica's South American operations and certain real estate in California. www.fletcherbuilding.com www.formica.com
Navini Networks Inc., a Richardson, Texas-based provider of portable wireless broadband network solutions, has raised $50 million in Series F funding. Arcapita Ventures and return backer Austin Ventures co-led the deal, and were joined by existing shareholders Granite Ventures, Investor Growth Capital, Lehman Brothers, Sternhill Partners, Intel Capital and Motorola Ventures. Navini has raised around […]
Tempo Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of nanoparticle technology to improve drug efficacy, has raised $12.1 million in Series A funding. Venrock and seed backer Polaris Venture Partners co-led the deal, and were joined by Lux Capital.