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From:
"Dan Primack"
Name:
Dan Primack
Email Address:
Dan_Primack@fortune.chtah.com
Subject:
Date:
01-12-2010 14:57:00
Message
Fortune Finance Street Sweep Term Sheet Economics Tech Wall Street Washington
Random Ramblings
TOns of news blurbs to collect this morning (fingers are aching), so just a few assorted items from the VC
world:
*** Its almost impossible to open up my browser right now without reading something about Googles
expected acquisition of VC-backed discount site Groupon. Conventional wisdom now has the company
going for between $5 billion and $6 billion, but Groupon itself isnt talking.
Well, thats not completely accurate. Groupon CEO Andrew Mason did respond to a request from the NY
Times, saying that he would agree to an interview only if you want to talk about my other passion, building
miniature dollhouses.
It looks like NYT took the hint, but I figured it was worth a follow-up. After all, one of the appeals of joining
Fortune was the ability to broaden my subject matter a bit (not in this forum, but elsewhere). So I emailed
Mason to chat miniature dollhouses, knowing full well that there is virtually no chance that his comment
was anything other than sardonic. No reply yet, but Ill be sure to let you know if that changes
*** Polaris Venture Partners made headlines three years ago by hiring Larry Kramer, former president of
CBS Digital Media and CEO of MarketWatch, as a senior advisor. Not surprisingly, it didnt say a peep
when he quietly left the firm late last year, although he remains on the board of Polaris portfolio company
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BlackArrow.
Seems Kramer has spent his subsequent time writing a recently-released book titled S-Scape, about how
businesses can survive and thrive in the digital media revolution.
Will be interesting to watch his next move, which is unlikely to include a return to Polaris (speaking of
which, when is it going to close its size-slashed fund?).
*** Speaking of personnel moves I missed, it seems that Ashvin Bachireddy recently joined Andreessen
Horowitz as a partner. He previously worked at such firms as Lightspeed Venture Partners, 3i Group and
JMI Equity. Andreessen Horowitz also has added former HP and Aster Data exec Mark Cranney as an
entrepreneur-in-residence.
*** There's a Private Equity Insider report this morning that Boston-based Commonwealth Venture
Partners is pre-marketing its fifth fund, which is expected to have a $250 million target. I've heard that too,
although word is that the firm may wait for one or two more liquidity events before sending out books.
Pre-Marketing, including the myth of pharma's patent cliff, the SEC gets annoyed by Andrew
Cuomo, angel bubble proliferation and the bidding war for Twitter.
Dan Primack: Q&A with Kleiner Perkins' Ted Schlein on firm strategy and Mary Meeker
VC Deals
Yammer Inc., a San Francisco-based provider of social communication and sharing solutions for within
enterprises, has raised $25 million in third-round funding. U.S. Venture Partners led the round, and was
joined by return backers Emergence Capital, Charles River Ventures and Founders Fund. The company
previously raised $15 million. www.yammer.com
Rackitivity, a Redwood City, Calif.-based developer of energy and uptime management solutions for data
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centers, has raised $8 million in Series B funding. Partech International led the round, and was joined by
return backer Big Bang Ventures. www.rackitivity.com
FamilyFinds, an online daily promotions site focused on services and experiences for families, has raised
$5.75 million in Series A funding from Split Rock Partners. www.familyfinds.com
Pacific Catch, a fish-focused casual restaurant chain in California, has raised $4 million in equity funding
from Pacific Community Ventures. www.pacificcatch.com
FindTheBest, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based comparison shopping engine, has raised an undisclosed
amount of Series A funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. www.findthebest.com
Objective Logistics, developer of an on-demand SaaS platform for sales performance management in the
restaurant vertical, has raised $500,000 in angel funding. Bacvkers include Richard Darer (former Gomez
CFO), Greg Pesik (CEO of Passkey) and Nigel Machin. www.objectivelogistics.com
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private equity firm. The UK-based group invests in a variety of tradable environmental permits, with a focus
on carbon units. www.tradingemissionsplc.com
PE-backed IPOs
iSoftStone Holding Ltd., a Beijing-based provider of IT consulting and software services, has set its IPO
terms to around 10.83 million American depository shares being offered at between $11 and $13 per share.
The company plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol ISS, with Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, and
UBS serving as co-lead underwriters. iSoftStone has raised funding from AsiaVest Partners, Infotech
Ventures, Mitsui & Co. and Fidelity Asia Ventures. www.isoftstone.com
Exits
Barclays Private Equity has sold its remaining 12.6% stake in LSL Property Services (LSE: LSL), a
British provider of residential property services, for 27 million. www.lslps.co.uk
Glencoe Capital has sold ACE Bakery Inc., a Toronto-based artisan bakery business, to Weston Foods
(Canada) Inc. The deal was valued at C$110 million. www.glencap.com
Gores Group has sold Vincotech Holdings to Mitsubishi Electric Corp., for an undisclosed amount.
Vincotech is a German maker of power modules that are used in inverters for general industrial
applications and power conditioners for solar power system applications. It was acquired by Gores from
Tyco in late 2007. www.gores.com
Lion Chemical Capital has sold Excel Polymers LLC, a Solon, Ohio-based merchant supplier of
elastomeric solutions, to Swedens Hexpol AB. The deal was valued at approximately $220 million.
www.excel-polymers.com
Other Deals
Rogers Communications is in talks to acquire the Toronto Maple Leafs for more than C$1
billion, according to a local press report.
Orix Corp. (Tokyo: 8591) has agreed to acquire a 25% stake in Vietnam-focused fund
management firm Infochina Capital. No financial terms were disclosed.
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