Random Ramblings
Today's planned column didn't come together in time, so just some very quick notes to kick off our Friday.
• Very slow drip: The Carlyle Group disclosed in its 10-K that the SEC has made an "informal request" for "additional information about our historical monitoring fee acceleration practices - a topic of a recent enforcement action within the private equity industry." Carlyle said that it is cooperating fully with the inquiry, and added that there could be additional SEC scrutiny over its use of -- and compensation structure for -- outside advisors.
As you might recall, both The Blackstone Group and KKR last year settled with the SEC over various fee-related charges.
• Old money models: Chris Flowers, the former Goldman Sachs bankers who now leads buyout firm J.C. Flowers & Co., tells the WSJ that most online lending companies will fail because they're mistakenly chasing a Silicon Valley network effect model. “It is one of the oldest adages in our business that the lender that grows fast is the lender with future losses.” Read more here.
• Real (estate) assets: Today's VC deals include as $4.3 million seed round for CREXi, a startup commercial real estate platform for brokers. By my count, it's the VC market's fourth real estate tech deal this week ― with more than $40 million invested. Maybe it's just a coincidental cluster, but I'm going to dig deeper into the data later today...
• Things that make you go hmmm: A reader pointed out that IBM regularly brags about how its "mainframes alone process 75 percent of the world’s business data," and then asked if that should be considered a systemic risk that needs to be regulated...
• Have a great weekend...
THE BIG DEAL
• Global Infrastructure Partners has agreed to sell London City Airport to an investor consortium led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. No financial terms were disclosed, but the NY Times reports a sale price in excess of £2 billion. Two China-based groups also had made offers. Read more.
VENTURE CAPITAL DEALS
• Signifyd, a San Jose, Calif.-based developer of risk-assessment technology, has raised $20 million in Series B funding. Menlo Ventures led the round, and was joined by Allegis Capital, IA Ventures, QED Investors, Bill McKiernan and Tim Eades. www.signifyd.com
• Arctic Sand Technologies, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of power conversion ICs, has raised $19 million in Series B funding. Murata Manufacturing Co. led the round, and was joined by GE Ventures, Northwater Capital and Arsenal Venture Partners. www.arcticsand.com
• 55Haitao.com, a Pasadena, Calif.-based online forum and guide for Chinese cross-border shoppers, has raised $15 million in Series A funding led by JJ Capital. www.55haitao.com
• Signal Sciences, a Venice, Calif.-based developer of a web application firewall, has raised $9.7 million in Series A funding led by Index Ventures. www.signalsciences.com
• Niantic, a San Francisco-based mobile gaming group that spun out of Google, has raised $5 million in new seed funding from Alsop Louie and individual angels. Read more.
• CREXi, a Venice, Calif.-based commercial real estate platform for brokers, has raised $4.3 million in seed funding from Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Freestyle Capital, TenOneTen Ventures, Founder Collective, Karlin Ventures and Leon Capital Group. www.crexi.com
• GenomeNext LLC, a Columbus, Ohio-based provider of genomic data management and analysis, has raised $1.2 million in seed funding led by Hydra Capital. www.genomenext.com
• VitalWare, a Yakima, Wash.-based provider of revenue cycle SaaS solutions to healthcare organizations, has raised an undisclosed amount of growth equity funding from F-Prime Capital Partners. www.vitalware.com
PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS
•Colgate Energy, a Midland, Texas-based oil and gas E&P company focused on the Permain Basin, has secured $75 million in new equity commitments from Pearl Energy Investments and Natural Gas Partners.
• OpenGate Capital has agreed to acquire the window and door profiles business of Axiall Corp. (NYSE: AXLL). No financial terms were disclosed. www.axiall.com
• Southfield Capital has acquired Tier One Relocation, a Weirton, W.V.-based residential relocation services provider for military personnel. No financial terms were disclosed. www.southfieldcapital.com
IPOs
•No IPO news this morning. Again.
EXITS
• Blackstreet Capital Management has sold American Combustion Industries Inc., a Brentwood, Md.-based installer and repairer of commercial mechanical systems, to company management. No financial terms were disclosed.
www.aciindustries.com
• BRG Sports Inc. has agreed to sell its action sports business ― including its Bell, Giro, Blackburn and C-Preme brands ― to Vista Outdoor Inc. (NYSE: VSTO) for $400 million in cash (plus a possible earn-out). BRG is a Scotts Valley, Calif.-based portfolio company of Fenway Partners and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. www.brgsports.com
• McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) has agreed to acquire two companies: Vantage Oncology, a Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based provider of radiation oncology and medical oncology; and Biologics Inc., a Manassas, Va. -based oncology pharmacy services company. The combined deals are valued at $1.2 billion. Vantage Oncology shareholders include CCP Equity Partners, HLM Venture Partners, NEA, Oak Hill Capital Partners, Salix Ventures and Versant Ventures. www.mckesson.com
• Trivest Partners has sold North Star Seafood, a Pompano Beach, Fla.-based fresh and frozen seafood distributor, to Sysco Corp. (NYSE: SYY). No financial terms were disclosed, except that North Star Seafood generates around $128 million in annual revenue. www.northstarseafood.com
OTHER DEALS
• Bay Tek Games of Wisconsin has purchased Skee-Ball Inc., a Pennsylvania-based maker of the greatest game ever invented (with all due respect to poker, air hockey and Sorry). Read more.
• BlackBerry (Nasdaq: BBRY) has acquired Encription, a UK-based cybersecurity consultancy. No financial terms were disclosed. Read more.
• Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) has acquired a minority equity stake in Finagraph, a Seattle-based provider of automated financial data collection and business intelligence solutions. No financial terms were disclosed. www.finagraph.com
• Samsung has restarted talks to acquire music streaming company Tidal, according to the NY Post. Read more.
• Zumper, a San Francisco-based apartment rental platform, has acquired Mountain View, Calif.-based apartment listings startup PadMapper for under $10 million in cash and stock. Zumper backers include Goodwater Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Read more.
FIRMS & FUNDS
• Lucas Venture Group is raising upwards of $25 million for its fifth fund, according to a regulatory filing. www.lucasvg.com
MOVING IN, ON & UP
• Ed Bowman has joined Dallas-based private equity firm Teakwood Capital as an executive partner. He currently serves as chairman and CEO of TRNT Holdings, a private investment group, and previously was CEO of business process outsourcing company SourceHOV. www.teakwoodcapital.com
• Ross Gundry and Parker Schabel have joined Denver-based private equity firm Excellere Partners as a vice president and analyst, respectively. Gundry previously was with Riverside Partners, while Schabel was with CapitalWorks. www.excellerepartners.com
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