Term Sheet — Tuesday, October 28

The firm had raised $248 million for its debut fund in 2010 and only was seeking $300 million this time around, but raised the limit due to intense investor interest. One additional change is that Solamere raised the new money via a pair of pools. The first $155 million pool (Fund II-A) will be used exclusively for direct investments, primarily as a minority investor alongside other private equity funds. The remainder (Fund II) will be a mix of direct investments, plus limited partner stakes in third-party private equity and venture capital funds. Around two-thirds of the overall raise will go toward direct investments.

Most of Solamere’s limited partners are individuals, rather than institutions.

Solamere Capital was founded in 2008 by Tagg Romney (ex-CMO with the LA Dodgers), Eric Scheuermann (ex-partner with Jupiter Partners) and Spencer Zwick (ex-deputy chief of staff to Gov. Romney, and finance chair for both Romney for President campaigns). Mitt Romney subsequently joined Solamere as chairman of the firm’s executive partner group. The firm, which rarely speaks to the press, declined to comment.

• Hung loan horizon: Yesterday I spent some time on the phone with a buyout big, to discuss the recent pullback in leveraged loans. A few interesting takeaways:

1. Despite syndication troubles, buyout firms are not inserting financing conditions into merger agreements. How come? “Sellers won’t accept them.”
2. The troubles should not have too much impact on Q4 LBO volume (which already is lagging a bit due to valuations), largely because most deals being announced by year-end were deep into process before the one-two punch of Fed scrutiny and high-yield market volatility. But we could see a significant volume dip in Q1 2015.
3. That said, underwriters will lose some money on deals signed in past five or six weeks. But it will be fairly minor, given the lack of LBO backlog. “Underwriters lose real money when we get a market correction when there are lots of deals in the pipeline, which we don’t have right now.”

• General solicitation: Buffer, a social media management tool, is seeking to raise $3.5 million in new VC funding at a $66.5 million pre-money valuation. We know the specific ask because Buffer (which counts Fortune as a customer) has chosen to do all of this in front of the curtain. It not only has posted its desired term sheet, but also its financials, user metrics and executive salaries. Here is a blog post from the company, explaining its unorthodox strategy in the age of stealth.

• 43k and counting: Every time I add another thousand Twitter followers, I like to remind you to join the others. That way we can chat throughout the day. I'm @danprimack.

THE BIG DEAL

• Snapdeal, an Indian e-commerce marketplace, has raised $627 million in new funding from SoftBank Corp. Earlier this year, the company raised more than $230 million over a pair of investment rounds, one from eBay and one from BlackRock, Temasek (Singapore), Myriad (Hong Kong) and Premji Investment (India). Read more.

VENTURE CAPITAL DEALS

• Limeade, a Seattle-based provider of employee engagement platforms for large companies, has raised $25 million in new VC funding. Oak HC/FT Partners led the round, and was joined by return backer TVC Capital. www.limeade.com

• ScoreBig Inc., a Los Angeles-based online ticket marketplace, has raised $24 million in Series D funding, according to VentureWire. Hearst Ventures led the round, and was joined by return backers like Checketts Partners Investment Fund and Bain Capital Ventures. www.scorebig.com

• Harvest Power Inc., a Waltham, Mass.-based provider of renewable energy and fertilizer products from organic waste, has raised $20 million in new VC funding. Lead investors were True North Venture Partners, Industry Ventures and Generation Investment Management. The company previously raised around $185 million from True North, Generation IM, American Refining and Biochemical Inc., Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and DAG Ventures. www.harvestpower.com

• IMatchative Inc., a San Francisco-based “data analytics platform and marketplace for capital introduction in the global alternative asset class space,” has raised $20 million in Series B funding. New investors include Wells Fargo, Control Empresarial de Capitales, David Bonderman and Andy Redleaf, while prior backer Jeffrey Ubben also participated. www.getAltX.com

• Paragon Bioservices Inc., a Baltimore-based contract research and manufacturing organization for biopharma and vaccines, has raised $13 million in Series A funding co-led by NewSpring Capital and Camden Partners. www.paragonbioservices.com

• Segmint, an Akron, Ohio-based provider of digital marketing solutions for banks, has raised $9 million in new VC funding from an unidentified “financial technology company.” www.segmint.com

• BigPanda, a Mountain View, Calif.-based provider of IT incident management automation solutions, has raised $7 million in Series A funding. Mayfield led the round, and was joined by return backer Sequoia Capital. www.bigpanda.io

• Vida, a San Francisco-based continuous care platform and health marketplace for consumers and businesses, has raised $5 million in Series a funding. Backers include Aspect Ventures, Khosla Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Signia Venture Partners, The Valley Fund, Kevin Scott, Skip Battle, Lorrie Norrington and the Webb Investment Network. www.vida.com

• Blendle NV, a Dutch “iTunes for journalism,” has raised €3 million in VC funding from Axel Springer and The New York Times Co. www.blendle.nl

PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS

Apollo Global Management has agreed to acquire two Italian insurance businesses from Banca Carige SpA for €310 million in cash. Read more.

• Douglas, a German retailer owned by Advent International, has sold its Christ jewelry stores to 3i Group. No financial terms were disclosed, but Reuters puts the overall price tag at €400 million (including debt), with 3i investing €214 million in equity. www.douglas-holding.com

IPOs

• INC Research Holdings, a Raleigh, N.C.-based contract research organization for the biopharma and medical device industries, has set its IPO terms to around 8.1 million shares being offered at between $17 and $20 per share. It would have an initial market cap of around $1.1 billion, were it to price in the middle of its range. The company plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol INCR, with Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse serving as lead underwriters. INC Research reports $13.8 million in net income on $552.5 million in revenue for the first half of 2014, compared to a $27.4 million net loss on $482 million in revenue for the year-earlier period. Shareholders include Avista Capital Partners and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. www.incresearch.com

• Jaguar Animal Health Inc., a San Francisco-based developer of veterinary medicines derived from plants used traditionally in rain forest areas, has set its IPO terms to 5 million shares being offered at between $7 and $9 per share. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol JAGX, with BMO Capital Markets and Guggenheim Securities serving as lead underwriters. The pre-revenue company was seeded by Napo Pharmaceuticals (53.8% pre-IPO stake), and also raised VC funding from BioVeda China Fund (31.3%). www.jaguaranimalhealth.com

• Upland Software Inc., an Austin, Texas-based provider of enterprise work management applications, has set its IPO terms to around 3.85 million shares being offered at between $12 and $14 per share. It would have an initial market cap of around $186 million, were it to price in the middle of its range. The company plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol UPLD, with William Blair and Raymond James serving as lead underwriters. Upland reports a $15 million net loss on around $32 million in revenue for the first half of 2014. Shareholders include ESW Capital (24.5% pre-IPO stake), Austin Ventures (19.9%) and Activant Capital (7%). www.uplandsoftware.com

EXITS

• Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) has acquired Rooftop Media, an online service that licenses out comedy audio and videos to media outlets. No financial terms were disclosed. Rooftop had raised VC funding from Azure Capital Partners. Read more.

• Celadon Group Inc. (NYSE: CGI) has acquired A&S Services Group, a New Freedom, Penn.-based for-hire and dedicated truckload carrier, from Larsen MacColl Partners. The deal is valued at approximately $86.8 million, including the assumption of $31.8 million in operating leases. www.celadongroup.com

• Leica Biosystems, a unit of Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR), has agreed to acquire Devicor Medical Products, a Cincinnati-based maker of medical devices for use in breast biopsy procedures, from GTCR. No financial terms were disclosed. www.devicormedical.com

• Leica Biosystems, a unit of Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR), has agreed to acquire Devicor Medical Products, a Cincinnati-based maker of medical devices for use in breast biopsy procedures, from GTCR. No financial terms were disclosed. www.devicormedical.com

• New Call Telecom has acquired a 70% stake in Nimbuzz, a Dutch provider of messaging solutions with a large concentration of users in India. The deal reportedly is valued at $175 million. Numbuzz had raised VC funding from such firms as Mangrove Capital Partners, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Mountain Partners and Myriad International Holdings. Read more.

• Normerica Inc., a Canadian maker of cat litter and dog treats, has hired BlackArch Partners to find a buyer, according to Dow Jones. Sellers would include Penfund. www.normericainc.com

• Pamlico Capital and Primus Capital have sold Three Eagles Communications, a Lincoln, Neb.-based radio station owner and operator, to Digity Media for $66.5 million. CEA Capital Advisors managed the process. www.threeeagles.com

• Stone Point Capital has hired Perella Weinberg Partners to find a buyer for Automobile Protection Corp., according to Bloomberg. APCO is a Norcross, Ga.–based car-warranty provider that could be valued at upwards of $600 million. Read more.

OTHER DEALS

• China’s government is planning a merger of train manufacturers China Northern Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry Group Corp. and CSR Group, which would have a combined value of around $26 billion. Read more.

• Madison Square Garden Co. (Nasdaq: MSG) said that it may split the company into a pair of entities: One to focus on live entertainment, and the other to operate pro sports franchises (NY Knicks and NY Rangers). Read more.

• Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) has hired Morgan Stanley to help it explore “strategic alternatives,” including a possible sale. The Knoxville, Tenn.-based movie theater chain has a current market cap of around $3.2 billion. www.regmovies.com

• Wright Medical Group Inc. (Nasdaq: WMGI), a Memphis, Tenn.-based maker of bone implants, has agreed to merge with Dutch orthopedic product maker Tornier NV (Nasdaq: TRNX). Wright is the slightly larger company ($1.56b market cap vs. $1.17b), but the combined company will be headquartered in the Netherlands. Read more.

• Yelp (NYSE: YELP) has acquired French review platform City Vox for an undisclosed amount. www.yelp.com

FIRMS & FUNDS

• Advent Life Sciences, a UK-based venture capital firm focused on the life sciences space, has closed its second fund with £145.5 million in capital commitments. www.adventLS.com

• The Blackstone Group is planning to target around $13 billion for its next global real estate fund, according to Reuters. Read more.

• Leon Hadass has stepped down from Pantheon after 15 years, in order to form a new private equity group focused on Ukraine and Eastern Europe, according to Financial News. The new effort is called EKN Capital. Read more.

• OCA Ventures, a Chicago-based early-stage venture firm, is raising upwards of $100 million for its third fund, according to a regulatory filing. www.ocaventures.com

• United Ventures, an Italian venture capital group, has closed its debut fund with $80 million in capital commitments. Read more.

• Warburg Pincus has closed its debut global energy fund with $4 billion in capital commitments. www.warburgpincus.com

MOVING IN, UP, ON & OUT

• Tim Burke has joined Castanea Partners, a private equity firm focused on the branded consumer space, as a partner. Burke previously was co-founder of Glenbrook Consumer Partners and a partner with Rosewood Capital. www.castaneapartners.com

• Carsten Kengeter, former head of investment banking at UBS, will join the executive board of the Deutsche Börse next April, and take over as CEO next June. Read more.

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