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Deals of the day: Psst… Secret raises $10 million

By
Dan Primack
Dan Primack
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By
Dan Primack
Dan Primack
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March 10, 2014, 2:47 PM ET

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Venture Capital Deals

Secret, an app that lets people anonymously share “secrets” with their iPhone contacts, has raised $10 million in new VC funding at a $40 million pre-money valuation, according to TechCrunch. Google Ventures led the round, and was joined by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. www.secret.ly

OwnCloud Inc., a Lexington, Mass.-based provider of an open-source platform to sync, share and view data and files, has raised $6.3 million in Series A funding from General Catalyst Partners andDevonshire Investors. www.owncloud.com

Omnidrone, a Spanish mobile social gaming startup, has raised $2 million in new VC funding fromNokia Growth Partners, London Venture Partners and Kibo Ventures. www.omnidrone.net

TreSensa, a New York-based mobile game distribution company, has raised $2 million in Series A funding. Caribou Asset Management led the round, and was joined by angel investors Jason Glickman and Andrew Reis (Tremor Video co-founders), David Pecker (American MediaCEO) and Ben Barokas (AdMeld founder). www.tresensa.com

TutorGroup, a China-based online language learning platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of new VC funding from SBI Group (f.k.a. Softbank Finance Group). This comes just weeks after the company announced nearly $100 million in Series B funding from Alibaba Group, Temasek and Qiming Venture Partners. www.tutor-group.com

Private Equity Deals

Alliance Laundry Holdings, a portfolio company of Teachers’ Private Capital, has completed its previously-announced acquisition of Primus Laundry Equipment Group, a Belgium-based provider of commercial washer-extractors, tumbler dryers and related equipment under the Lavamac and Deli brands. No financial terms were disclosed. www.alliancelaundry.com

Ardian has received numerous bids in excess of €1.2 billion for French food ingredient maker Diana Group, according to the FT. Suitors include CVC Capital Partners, Euroazeo, Pamplona Capital Management, Symrise AG (Germany) and Ajinomoto (Japan). www.diana-group.com

Bain Capital and The Blackstone Group are among interested suitors for Russell Investments, the fund management and indexing unit of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., according to Bloomberg. Seattle-based Russell could be valued at around $3 billion in a sale. www.russell.com

Drilling Tools International (f.k.a. Directional Rentals Inc.), a Houston, Texas-based portfolio company of Hicks Equity Partners, has acquired Reamco Inc., a Lafayette, La.-based maker, renter and refurbisher of downhole drilling tools and related products. No financial terms were disclosed. www.drillingtools.com

GS Capital Partners and Vestar Capital Partners are “nearing a deal” to buy Hearthside Food Solutions, a Downers Grove, Ill.-based white label snack-maker, from Wind Point Partners for more than $1.1 billion, according to Reuters. Rival bidders had included BC Partners and Oak Hill Capital Partners. Barclays is managing the process. www.hearthsidefoods.com

HGGC Capital has agreed to acquire Serena Software, a Redwood City, Calif.-based provider of enterprise IT management solutions, from Silver Lake. The deal is valued at approximately $450 million. www.serena.com

TPG Growth, Hony Capital and producers Robert Simonds and Gigi Pritzker have launched a new film studio that will finance, produce and self-distribute 8 to 10 star-driven theatrical films for the global markets per year. The new studio does not yet have a name, but did say that it expects to invest “well over” $1 billion in new film production over the next five years.

IPOs

A10 Networks Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of application networking technologies, has set its IPO terms to 12.5 million shares being offered at between $13 and $15 per share. It would have an initial market cap of approximately $826 million, were it to price in the middle of its range. The company plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol ATEN, with Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan serving as lead underwriters. The company reports a $27 million net loss on nearly $142 million in revenue for 2013, compared to a $90 million net loss on $120 million in revenue for 2012. Shareholders include Summit Partners (19% pre-IPO stake) and Mitsui & Co. (12.8%).www.a10networks.com 

Akebia Therapeutics, a Cincinnati-based developer of small molecule drugs to treat anemia and cancer, has set its IPO terms to 4.91 million shares being offered at between $14 and $17 per share. It would have an initial market cap of approximately $283 million, were it to price in the middle of its range. The company plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol AKBA, with Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse serving as lead underwriters. Shareholders in the pre-revenue company include Novartis Bioventures (25.1% pre-IPO stake), Venture Investors LLC (11.3%), Satter Investment Management (11.1%), Kearny Venture Partners (10.4%), Novo AS (10.2%), Triathlon Medical Ventures (8.7%), Athenian Venture Partners, AgeChem Venture and Sigvion Capital Fund.www.akebia.com

Dorian LPG Ltd., a Stamford, Conn.-based owner and operator of LPG shipping vessels, has filed for a $287.5 million IPO. It plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol LPG, with J.P. Morgan and UBS to serve as co-lead underwriter. Shareholders include Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE: STNG) and SEACOR Holdings (NYSE: CKH). The company’s stock is currently traded on the Norwegian OTC List. www.dorianlpg.com

Globoforce Ltd., a provider of cloud-based social recognition software for organizations use to engage their employees, has set its IPO terms to 4.41 million shares being offered at between $16 and $18 per share. It would have an initial market cap of approximately $457 million, were it to price in the middle of its range. The company plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol THNX, with J.P. Morgan listed as left lead underwriter. The company reports a $3 million net loss on $84 million in revenue for the first half of 2013. Shareholders include Balderton Capital (41.5% pre-IPO stake) and Atlas Venture (31.4%). The company is based in Ireland, with U.S. offices in Southborough, Mass.www.globoforce.com

Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc., a Midvale, Utah-based outdoor sporting goods retailer, has filed for a $201.25 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol SPWH, with Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs serving as lead underwriters. The company reported $28 million in net income on $527 million in revenue for the fiscal year ending Feb. 2, 2013. Seidler Equity Partners holds an 82.8% pre-IPO ownership stake. www.sportsmanswarehouse.com

Wesfarmers Ltd. (ASX: WES), an Australian conglomerate, is planning to float its insurance brokerage business, according to the Weekend Australian. The IPO would value the business at around A$1.12 billion. www.wesfarmers.com.au

M&A

Tencent (HK: 700) has agreed to pay $215 million to acquire a 15% stake in Chinese e-commerce company JD.com. As part of the deal, Tencent also agrees to subscribe to JD.com’s IPO for an additional 4% post-IPO position. JD.com filed for a $1.5 billion IPO back in January. Shareholders include Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital. www.jd.com

Bouygues Telecom, a unit of French conglomerate Bouygues SA (Paris: EN), has agreed to sell its mobile antenna network and some of its wireless spectrum to Iliad SA (Paris: ILD) for up to €1.8 billion. The deal is contingent on Vivendi agreeing to sell its SFR mobile business to Bouygues Telecom (there are other bidders), which would then do the Iliad deal in order to satisfy regulatory concerns. www.bouyguestelecom.fr

Chiquita Brands International (NYSE: CQB) has agreed to acquire Ireland-based fresh produce producer Fyffes PLC (ISE: FQ3) for approximately $526 million in stock. www.chiquita.com

Classified Ventures LLC, a group of five newspaper publishers, is seeking to sell Cars.com for upwards of $3 billion, according to the WSJ. Moelis & Co. will manage the process. www.cars.com

Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB) has agreed to acquire the global rights to the K-Y lubricants brand fromMcNeil-PPC, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). No employees or fixed assets are included in the deal, nor were any financial terms disclosed. www.rb.com

Unilever PLC (NYSE: ULVR) has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Qinyuan Group, a Chinese maker of water purifiers. No financial terms were disclosed, but Unilever did say that Qinyuan generated around €140 million in 2013 revenue. www.unilever.com

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) has agreed to acquire National Pump, a Beaumont, Texas –based specialty pump rental company, for approximately $780 million (including $765 million in cash). The deal also includes an additional $125 million in possible earnouts.

Swander Pace Capital has agreed to sell Pineridge Bakery, an Ontario-based provider of specialty fresh and frozen private label and branded baked goods, to Switzerland-based ARYZTA AG for $340 million. www.pineridgebakery.com

IHH Healthcare Bhd (Malaysia) is exploring a bid for Australian hospital operator Healthscope, which is being sold for around $5 billion by The Carlyle Group and TPG Capital, according to the WSJ. Carlyle and TPG also are considering an IPO for the company. www.healthscope.com.au

Sign up for Dan Primack’s daily email newsletter on deals and deal-makers: GetTermSheet.com

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