Random Ramblings
The new issue of Fortune Magazine is out this morning, including a fantastic cover story on DraftKings CEO Jason Robins (that's right -- a Boston startup is on the cover and I had absolutely nothing to do with it).
He's there, in part, because the daily fantasy sports market has absolutely exploded in recent months -- both in terms of users and ubiquitous advertising. But it's also because Robins is on our new 40 Under 40 list.
You can view the full list here, but here are a few Term Sheet-specific highlights: Noah Wintroub, vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase (#13); Stephanie Cohen, global head of financial sponsor M&A at Goldman Sachs (#24); Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator (#30); and Brian Sheth, co-founder and president of Vista Equity Partners (#33).
• Personnel news: Speaking of Vista Equity Partners, the tech-focused private equity firm has added a pair of new Bay Area investors: Jeff Wilson (ex-TPG Capital) and Jake Hodgman (ex-HGGC). We posted a bit more biographical background on the site.
• Deal scoop: Intarcia Therapeutics, the “unicorn” biotech company initially focused on diabetes, has made its first-ever acquisition. The target was Phoundry Pharmaceuticals Inc., a North Carolina-based developer of more than 20 optimized peptides for treating metabolic diseases. Phoundry originally was a research unit within GlaxoSmithKline, which recently spun out and raised a bit of seed funding just last month from Pappas Ventures.
No financial terms are being disclosed, except that the deal was a combination of cash and stock.
You may recall that Intarcia is the drug company that uses an implantable mini-pump to continuously deliver (stable in-body) medication for upwards of a year. CEO Kurt Graves says that the Phoundry portfolio includes some products that, eventually, could help expand his company’s product offerings to include a sort of “bariatric surgery via mini-pump.” Kind of mind-boggling but, then again, so is delivering diabetes medication for months at a time via a single outpatient procedure that lasts only about one minute...
• It's not all about me: Last Friday I published a tongue-in-cheek post about robbing an Apple retail store, based on the tech giant's recent decision to allow mobile ad-blocking apps on its new operating system. And a lot of you told me to stop whining, adding that media just must adapt to new technologies (yes, we'll do a mailbag shortly).
But here's the thing: This is about much more than media. This morning I have a new post up that details how ad-blocker Crystal -- currently #1 in the App Store -- also plays havoc with the mobile websites of big retailers like Walmart, Sears, Lululemon, Walgreens, Bass Pro Shops and more. Some of them don't work at all -- and that's just on the consumer-facing side. On the back-end, there are little to no analytics that such retailers typically rely upon to make real-time decisions. Given how soon many retailers will "freeze" their code ahead of the holiday shopping season, this ad-blocking issue is about to cause big retail headaches (and that doesn't even address the loss of inorganic traffic to retail sites). Obviously the e-commerce business model is flawed...
THE BIG DEAL
• Premise, a San Francisco-based platform for tracking economic data, has raised $50 million in Series C funding from Valor Equity Partners and return backer Social+Capital Partnership. Read more from Fortune's Leena Rao.
VENTURE CAPITAL DEALS
• Onshape, a Cambridge, Mass.-based provider of cloud-based CAD software, has raised $80 million in new VC funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round, and was joined by return backers NEA, Commonwealth Capital Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners. Read more.
• SevOne, a Wilmington, Del.-based provider of IT infrastructure management solutions, has raised $50 million in Series C funding. Westfield Capital Management and Bain Capital Ventures co-led the round, and were joined by Brookside Capital, HarbourVest, VT Technology Ventures and Osage Venture Partners. The company last year raised $150 million from Bain Capital Ventures and Bain Capital Partners. www.sevone.com
• Skillz, a San Francisco-based mobile e-sports startup, has raised $15 million in Series B funding. David Bonderman’s Wildcat Capital Management led the round, and was joined by The Kraft Group, Sequoia Capital and Marc Lasry. www.skillz.com
• StreamSets, a San Francisco-based startup “that speeds access to enterprise big data,” has raised $12.5 million in Series A funding. Battery Ventures and NEA co-led the round, and were joined by Accel Partners and Ignition Partners. www.streamsets.com
• AdsNative, a Berkley, Calif.-based provider of native ad solutions for online publishers, has raised $8.5 million in Series A funding from Rakuten Ventures, Interwest Partners and Onset Ventures. www.adsnative.com
• Din, a new recipe/ingredients subscription service that teams with well-known chefs, has raised $3 million in VC funding from Accel Partners, Collaborative Fund, Built By Girls Fund, Harrison Metal, Slow Ventures, and Lowercase Capital. Read more.
• Joylux Inc., a Seattle-based developer of therapeutic LED products for home use, has raised $3 million in seed funding from undisclosed investors. www.joyluxinc.com
PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS
• Audax Group has acquired Techniks Industries, an Indianapolis-based provider of industrial cutting tools and tool holders, from Tenex Capital Management. No financial terms were disclosed. www.techniksindustries.com
• Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman are prepping a €500 million dividend recap for portfolio company Verisure Holding AB (f.k.a. Securitas Direct), a Swedish maker of home security products, according to Bloomberg. Read more.
• The Blackstone Group has expressed interest in acquiring BioMed Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: BMR), a San Diego-based commercial landlord focused on biotech companies, according to Bloomberg. BioMed’s stock jumped on the news, and now has a market cap north of $4.3 billion. Read more.
• Bluewing Midstream LLC, a new platform to acquire and develop oil and gas terminaling and transportation assets with an initial focus on the Gulf Coast, has secured an initial $100 million equity commitments from Energy Spectrum Partners and company management. www.bluewingmidstream.com
• Caltius Capital Management has acquired MC Sign Co., a Mentor, Ohio-based provider of signage and lighting services to multi-site industries like quick serve restaurants and convenience stores, from Sverica Capital Management. No financial terms were disclosed. www.mcsign.com
• Coryton Advanced Fuels, a UK-based fuel blending and consultancy services business, has secured an undisclosed amount of private equity funding from Lyceum Capital. www.corytonfuels.co.uk
• Pacific Equity Partners is among the first-round bidders for Australian renewable energy company Pacific Hydro, according to the Australian Financial Review. Other suitors may include SunEdison (NYSE: SUNE) and TransAlta (TSX: TA). The deal could top A$2 billion. Read more.
• Thomas H. Lee Partners has acquired a majority stake in Healthcare Staffing Services, a Greenwood Village, Colo.-based provider of healthcare staffing services, from Altaris Capital Partners. No financial terms of the recap were disclosed. www.healthcarestaffingservicesllc.com
IPOs
• Oberthur Technologies, a French smartcard maker owned by Advent International, is prepping for a Euronext IPO, according to Reuters. Its application for listing will be made within the next two weeks. Advent reportedly rebuffed a recent takeover offer for Oberthur from The Carlyle Group and Eurazeo. Read more.
• Pure Storage, a Mountain View, Calif.-based data storage company, has set its IPO terms to 25 million shares being offered at between $16 and $18 per share. It would have an initial market cap of around $3.1 billion, were it to price in the middle of its range. The company plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol PSTG, with Morgan Stanley serving as left lead underwriter. Pure Storage reports a $113 million net loss on $159 million in revenue for the first half of 2015, compared to a $95 million net loss on $59 million in revenue for the year-earlier period. The company has raised more than $530 million in VC funding, and most recently was valued north of $3 billion. Shareholders include Sutter Hill Partners (27.4% pre-IPO stake), Greylock (17.3%) and Redpoint Ventures (5.7%). www.purestorage.com
EXITS
• Energy Capital Partners has hired Barclays to find a buyer for its stake in pipeline operator Summit Midstream Partners (NYSE: SMLP), according to Bloomberg. The deal could be valued at more than $2 billion and would “include a minority stake in the pipeline operator as well as ownership of its general partner.” Read more.
OTHER DEALS
• Anheuser-Busch InBev has agreed to acquire Golden Road, a Los Angeles-based craft brewer. No financial terms were disclosed. Read more.
• AppDirect, a San Francisco-based provider of cloud service commerce solutions, has acquired AppCarousel, a provider of app management platforms. No financial terms were disclosed. AppDirect has raised over $100 million in VC funding from firms like Mithril Capital Management, StarVest Partners and iNovia Capital. www.appdirect.com
• Intelsat (NYSE: I), a commercial satellite operator in which Silver Lake owns nearly a 13% stake, is exploring a sale of “some strategic assets, as it seeks to pay off a portion of its $14 billion debt pile,” according to the FT. Read more.
FIRMS & FUNDS
• General Electric (NYSE: GE) has agreed to sell its private equity investment group (GE Capital Equity) to France-based Ardian for around $500 million, according to Bloomberg. Read more.
MOVING IN, UP, ON & OUT
• Cinven, a European private equity firm, announced an executive succession plan that will result in Hugh Langmuir becoming executive chairman and Stuart McAlpine being promoted to managing partner. www.cinven.com
• Thomas Mastrobuoni has joined Advance Vixeid Partners as chief financial officer. He previously was CFO and chief compliance officer for RedBird Capital Partners. www.avpgrowth.com
• Marie-Hélène McAndrew has joined Perella Weinberg Partners as a managing director in the firm’s asset management unit. She previously was a senior VP and portfolio manager with Permal Asset Management, working on a $2 billion macro fund-of-hedge-funds. www.pwpartners.com
• Mark Selcow, former president of Merced Systems, has joined Costanoa Venture Capital as a venture partner. www.costanoavc.com
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