Abdicated Responsibility
Greetings from Logan Airport, where I'm about to board a plane for San Francisco in order to attend tonight's sold-out Liquidity Event. No column this morning, because I got the news blurbs done in the terminal and never quite trust the in-flight WiFi to work. Hope you understand. Be back and boisterous tomorrow, and look forward to seeing many of you tonight...
THE BIG DEAL
• Mirantis, a Mountain View, Calif.-based OpenStack systems integrator, has raised $100 million in Series B funding. Insight Venture Partners led the round, and was joined by August Capital and return backers Intel Capital, WestSummit Capital, Ericsson and SAP Ventures. The company previously raised around $20 million. www.mirantis.com
VENTURE CAPITAL DEALS
• Viamet Pharmaceuticals Holdings, a Morrisville, N.C.-based developer of inhibitors of validated metalloenzymes, has raised $60 million in Series D funding. Brandon Point Industries was joined by Woodford Investment Management and return backers Novartis Venture Fund, Lilly Ventures, Hatteras Venture Partners, Intersouth Partners, Lurie Holdings and Astellas Venture Management. www.viamet.com
• Benu Networks, a Billerica, Mass.-based software platform for mobile operators, has raised $27.7 million in new VC funding. Liberty Global Ventures and Arris Group were joined by return backers Spark Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures and Comcast Ventures. www.benunets.com
• Orchard Platform, a new platform for linking institutional investors with P2P marketplaces like LendingClub and Prosper, has raised $12 million in new VC funding. Backers include Canaan Partners, Spark Capital, from John Mack (ex-Moirgan Stanley CEO), Hans Morris (ex-Visa president) and individual investors like Max Levchin, Tom Glocer, Hans Morris, Vikram Pandit, HJohn Mack and Hans Morris. Read more.
• Technisys, a Miami, Fla.-based digital banking company, has raised $13 million in Series B funding. Backers include Intel Capital, Alta Ventures, KaSZeK Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst and Holdinvest. www.technisys.com
• Cazena, a Waltham, Mass.-based “big data on-demand” startup founded by former Netezza execs, has raised $8 million in Series A funding co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and North Bridge Venture Partners. www.cazena.com
• Xplenty, an Israeli big data processing platform powered by Hadoop, has raised $3 million in Series A funding from Waarde Capital and return backer Magma Venture Partners. www.xplenty.com
• STAQ Inc., a Baltimore-based developer of an ad reporting system for digital advertisers, has raised $2.5 million in Series A funding. Genacast Ventures and Core Capital co-led the deal, and were joined by Kinetic Ventures, Revel Partners and The Hive. www.staq.com
PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS
• Bloomer Plastics Inc., a Bloomer, Wis.-based portfolio company of Huron Capital Partners, has acquired Optium Plastics, a Delaware, Ohio-based maker of custom engineered cast embossed films for the industrial, medical and packaging markets. No financial terms were disclosed. www.bloomerplastics.com
• The Jordan Co. has acquired Gulfstream Services Inc., a Houma, La.-based oilfield rental tools and services company. No financial terms were disclosed. www.gulfstreamservices.com
• StoneCalibre has acquired NetPlus, a Gaithersburg, Md.-based provider of web-based communications software for commercial and government customers. No financial terms were disclosed. www.stonecalibre.com
• TPG Capital has agreed to increase its position in Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to a majority position. No financial terms were disclosed. www.caa.com
• Berkshire Partners has acquired a majority stake in Access Information Management, a –based provider of records and information management services, from Summit Partners. No financial terms were disclosed. www.informationprotected.com
• Epicor Software, a Dublin, Calif.-based business software provider owned by Apax Partners, has acquired QuantiSense, an Atlanta–based provider of cloud and on-premise packaged analytics for the retail industry. No financial terms were disclosed. www.quantisense.com
• PHS Group, a UK-based maker of washroom products and services, has been taken over by its lenders. It had been controlled by Charterhouse Capital Partners since a £770 million take-private buyout in 2005, with Charterhouse in line to retain a minority position following the debt-for-equity restructuring. www.phs.co.uk
IPOs
• Connecture Inc., a Brookfield, Wis.-based health insurance shopping and enrollment platform, has filed for an $86.25 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq, with Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan serving as lead underwriters. The company reports a $12 million net loss on $35 million in revenue for the first six months of 2014, compared to an $18 million net loss on $19 million in revenue for the deal earlier period. Shareholders include GreatPoint Partners (39.2% pre-IPO stake), Chrysalis Ventures (28.5%), SSM Partners (20.2%) and LiveOak Equity Partners (10.6%). www.connecture.com
• Peak Resorts, a Wildwood, Mo.-based ski resort operator, has filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol SKIS, with FBR, Stifel and Baird serving as lead underwriters. The company previously filed for an IPO in 2011, before pulling the registration last month due to poor market conditions from 2011 (yes, you read that correctly). Peak Resorts reports around $25 million in EBITA and $105 million in revenue for the year ending April 30, 2014. www.peakresorts.com
• Sientra Inc., a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based maker of breast implants, has set its IPO terms to 5 million shares being offered at between $14 and $16 per share. It would have an initial market cap of approximately $212 million, were it to price in the middle of its range. The company plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol SIEN, with Piper Jaffray and Stifel serving as lead underwriters. Sientra reports a $1.1 million net loss on around $22 million in revenue for the first half of 2014. Shareholders includeOrbiMed Advisors (33.8% pre-IPO stake), Clarus Ventures (29.8%),Abingworth Management (18.6%), an affiliate of Goldman Sachs (8.6%) and TIAA-CREF (6.9%). www.sientra.com
EXITS
• CIC Partners has sold SPG Holdings LLC, a Green Bay, Wis.-based maker of specialty paper products for the restaurant and foodservice distribution industries, to Georgia-Pacific LLC. No financial terms were disclosed. Georgia-Pacific is a subsidiary of Koch Industries. www.gp.com
•Actavis (NYSE: ACT) has made a bid for Omega Pharma NV, a Belgian portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, according to Bloomberg. Other suitors include Perrigo Co (NYSE: PRGO)., Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH. The final deal could be valued north of €4 billion. Read more.
•Mid Europa Partners has hired Credit Suisse to find a buyer for Norican Group, a Denmark-based provider of surface preparation equipment, molding equipment, and sand plant solutions for the manufacturing sector, according to LBO Wire. The deal could be valued at more than €400 million. www.noricangroup.com
OTHER DEALS
• Brambles Ltd. (ASX: BXB) has acquired Ferguson Group, a UK-based provider of container solutions to the offshore oil and gas sector. No financial terms were disclosed. www.brambles.com
• Citrix (Nasdaq: CTXS) has acquired RightSignature, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based electronic signature company. No financial terms were disclosed. www.rightsignature.com
• ForceField Energy Inc. (Nasdaq: FNRG) has acquired ESCO Energy Service Co., a Lenox, Mass.-based provider of energy efficiency upgrades and lighting retrofit projects, for approximately $7.5 million. www.forcefieldenergy.com
• Fiksu, a Boston-based mobile ad tech company, has secured $10 million in mezzanine debt from Silicon Valley Bank. The company has raised VC funding from Qualcomm Ventures and Charles River Ventures. www.fiksu.com
• Macquarie Group has agreed to acquire Louisiana utility Cleco Corp. (NYSE: CNL) for $3.4 billion in cash, or $55.37 per share (15% premium to last Friday’s closing price). Read more.
FIRMS & FUNDS
• HealthCare Royalty Partners has closed its third fund with $1.5 billion in capital commitments. www.healthcareroyalty.com
• Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management has closed its third private equity secondaries fund with $1.655 billion in capital commitments. www.db.com
MOVING IN, UP, ON & OUT
• David Breach has joined Vista Equity Partners as the private equity firm’s first chief administrative officer, according to Dow Jones. He previously was a San Francisco-based corporate partner with law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Vista recently closed on a new $5.8 billion fund, its largest to date. www.vistaequitypartners.com
