Fortune Article

ET CETERA

• Earlier this year Term Sheet reported that former professional football players Brent Jones and Tommy Vardell planned to leave Northgate Capital, the venture capital firm they co-founded 16 years ago, by the end of the year. It was unclear at the time how that would work, given their leaving would trigger a key-man provision for the firm, which has $4.8 billion in assets under management.

The end of the year is approaching and an astute Term Sheet reader noticed that Jones and Vardell are no longer listed on Northgate’s website. Northgate tells Term Sheet that Jones and Vardell are currently still acting as partners at the firm, but “it is anticipated” that Jones and Vardell will move to a “long term consulting arrangement” with Northgate in early 2017. The firm stresses all parties “are pleased about the proposed future arrangements.”

Regarding the key man provision, the firm says Jones and Vardell will continue to be actively involved with existing Northgate funds, and as such, it doesn’t expect a key man provision to be triggered. The decision to remove Jones and Vardell from the website was made in consultation with them.

Some context: In April, Northgate majority owner Religare Enterprises sold its stake in the firm to The Capital Partnership, an investment advisor based in London and Dubai. Investors were alerted to leadership transition soon thereafter.

• Expansive Saga: An update on the legal battle between Adeo Ressi and Jon Soberg, co-founders of early stage venture firm Expansive Ventures. Over the summer, Ressi was ordered by a judge to pay Soberg $3.5 million. Last we checked in, Ressi had lost his appeal, then filed for bankruptcy and taken out a loan against his home from his old friend Elon Musk. The bankruptcy filing put the pending lawsuit on hold, and in the meantime, Ressi appealed again.

In November the Santa Clara Superior Court compelled the case into arbitration, meaning Ressi would have to start all over again if he wants to continue to fight the original arbitration decision. That, or he could pay the $3.5 million.

• Double deal: GoDaddy is on an acquisition spree. The $6 billion (market cap) company has announced two deals in the last 24 hours, one big and one small: The big one is the company’s previously-reported expansion of its European footprint, a $1.8 billion acquisition of Host Europe Group from Cinven. The small one is a 39-person, bootstrapped Wordpress services business called WP Curve.

• Housekeeping: Fortune’s Kia Kokalitcheva is joining Laura Entis and I on the daily collection of deal items you see below. To streamline things, we’ve created a dedicated inbox for you to submit news. Send your deal and fund announcements, along with hiring news, to termsheet@fortune.com.

THE LATEST FROM FORTUNE...

• Fraud arrests at Kit Digital

• NYC seeks $35 million to protect Trump

• How businesses are handling new overtime charges

• 3 Predictions about the global populist surge

• Thanks, Obama: Trump is inheriting the best economy in a generation

• Insider trading at Expedia

• Amazon Go

• Trump’s tax plan could give Buffett a $29 billion boost

• Mark Pincus’ stock lawsuit goes ahead

…AND ELSEWHERE

Microsoft tries another chatbot. Trump’s children and business since birth. In which Trump’s lawyers argue there was no fraud in the election. Pantsuits were once illegal for women. Tim Armstrong optimistic about the Yahoo deal. Viacom not interested in Vice. Theranos’ lofty projections. Goldman banker reshuffling. Is Airbnb still the nice guy? Why people believe conspiracy theories like Pizzagate. The opaque world of video game voice acting.

VENTURE DEALS

• Elysium Health, a New York City-based company that produces health supplements with longevity claims, raised $20 million in Series B funding led by General Catalyst Partners. This item, which previously cited an article in TechCrunch, has been updated to include the correct investor after the company made its funding announcement official.

• Harman International (NYSE:HAR) has made a strategic partnership and an investment of around $15 million in Navdy, a San Francisco startup selling $799 futuristic heads-up digital display for cars. As part of the agreement, Harman will have exclusive rights to distribute a co-branded device to automakers. Previous investors in the startup, which has raised $42 million to date, include Eniac Ventures, Formation8, Promus Ventures, QualcommVentures, and Upfront Ventures. Read more at Fortune.

• SocialChorus, a San Francisco employee communications platform, raised $10 million in funding from Kohlberg Ventures.

• ConnectedYard, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based maker of a pool water monitoring devices, raised $7 million in Series A funding from Lonza, Playground Global, and Tandem Capital.

• LeadGenius, a Berkeley, Calif.-based provider of sales marketing tools for enterprise, raised an additional $4 million in Series B funding from SJF Ventures, Lumia Capital, and Javelin Venture Partners, which brings the round to $14 million.

• Beamr, an Israeli video and image encoding and processing company, raised $4 million in funding from Verizon Ventures.

• Privateaser, a French event space booking service, raised €3 million ($3.2 million) in funding from ISAI.

• Visbit, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based virtual reality and 360-degree video streaming company, raised $3.2 million in seed funding from Presence Capital, ZhenFund, Colopl Next, Amino Capital, and Eversunny Limited.

• strongDM, a San Mateo, Calif.-based platform that allows businesses to manage who has access to company databases, raised $3 million in new funding, according to TechCrunch. Investors include True Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Laconia Capital Group, Social Starts, and Jerry Neumann. Read more.

• GuaranteedPros, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company for finding professional services, raised $2 million in seed funding from Panamax Capital.

• Fuzu, a Finnish company that provides career recommendations, raised €1.8 million ($1.9 million) from FinnFund.

• Tradeshift, a San Francisco-based provider of procurement and supply chain management tools, raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Santander InnoVentures.

• Hubba, a Toronto-based service that helps retailers find new products, raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, with participation from Real Ventures, Kensington Venture Fund, and Brightspark Ventures.

PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS

• EQT Partners, a Stockholm-based private equity firm, has acquired AutoStore, a Norwegian robotics company that automates inventory management. Financial terms were not disclosed, but a report in the Swedish news site Breakit valued the deal at around €400 million ($430 million). Read more.

• Tri-Point, an oil and gas production, process equipment and services company back by the private equity firm First Reserve, has acquired Leed Fabrication Services, Streamline Production Systems, and Superior Fabrication, all providers of oil and gas production and processing equipment. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Clinical Supplies Management, a Fargo, N.D. provider of clinical trial services to biotechnology companies backed by Great Point Partners, has acquired the assets of Theorem Clinical Research – Clinical Supplies, a German provider of clinical trial drug packaging and other services. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Corridor Capital, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, has invested in Nationwide Property & Appraisal Services, a Gibbsboro, N.J.-based appraisal management company.

• HPS Investment Partners has made a minority investment in NFP, a New York City-based insurance broker, consultant, and wealth management company that is majority owned by private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners.

• Shoes For Crews, a CCMP Capital portfolio company that designs and manufactures slip-resistant footwear, has agreed to acquire the SureGrip Footwear subsidiary of Genesco Inc. (NYSE: GCO).

• KPA, a Lafayette, Colo.-based environmental health and safety, HR management, and sales and finance compliance solutions provider backed by CIVC Partners LP, has acquired Succeed Management Solutions, a Lake Oswego, Ore. risk management software provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OTHER DEALS

• Liberty Mutual Holding has agreed to acquire U.S. specialty property and casualty insurer Ironshore from China-based Fosun International (0656.HK) for around $3 billion, according to Reuters. Fosun International took Ironshore private in November 2015, a move that attracted attention from Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Read more.

• Synchronoss Technologies (NasdaqGS:SNCR), a customer service software provider for mobile carriers, has agreed to buy cloud-based business software provider Intralinks Holdings (NYSE:IL) for $821 million in cash, according to Reuters. At $13 per share, Synchronoss' offer represents a 15.4% premium to Intralinks Monday close. Read more.

• Volkswagen (XTRA:VOW3) is interested in selling a minority stake in Moia, its new, independent mobility company focused on developing autonomous on-demand transportation, according to Bloomberg. Read more.

• Software AG (Frankfurt TecDAX: SOW) has acquired Zementis, a San Diego, Calif.-based provider of artificial intelligence software. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• GoDaddy has acquired WP Curve, an Australian company that provides support services for WordPress developers and websites. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• The Mobile Majority, a New York City-based mobile advertising platform, has acquired Gimbal (formerly Qualcomm Retail Solutions), a San Diego, Calif.-based mobile engagement and location intelligence platform.

IPOs

• JBS (BOVESPA:JBSS3), a Brazilian food company and the world’s largest beef processor, plans to sell shares of its subsidiary JBS Foods International in the United States in the first half of 2017. Pricing terms have yet to be determined. The move is part of a larger operational reorganization after plans to move the company’s headquarters to Ireland were scrapped. Read more at Fortune.

• Trivago, a Dusseldorf, Germany-based hotel search aggregator held by Expedia (NasdaqGS:EXPE), has set its IPO terms. The company plans to raise $399 million by offering 28.5 million shares between $13 to $15 per share and would have an initial market cap of $4.9 billion were it to price in the middle of its range. The company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol TRVG.

EXITS

• GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) has agreed to buy fellow website domain name provider Host Europe Group for €1.69 billion ($1.82 billion), including debt, from private equity firm Cinven Ltd. Read more at Fortune.

• Thoma Bravo, a Chicago-based private equity firm, has agreed sell Deltek, a Herndon, Va.-based provider of enterprise software and solutions for project-based businesses, to Roper Technologies for $2.8 billion.

• KKR (NYSE:KKR) has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Optiv Security, a Denver-based provider of end-to-end cyber security solutions, from Blackstone (NYSE: BX). Blackstone will maintain a minority interest in Optiv. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Blue Wolf Capital Partners has acquired Tenon Holdings‘ stake in NACS USA, a maker of moldings, stair parts, doors and other specialty building products. NACS USA will operate under the name Novo Building Products. No financial terms were disclosed.

• Polaris has agreed to sell Avanti Wind Systems, a Danish company that manufactures wooden ladders for the wind turbine industry, to Alimak Group.

FIRMS + FUNDS

• Bill Maris, the founder and former CEO of Google Ventures (he resigned earlier this year), is reportedly raising $230 million for a new fund, according to Recode. Called Section 32, it will focus on healthcare investments. Read more at Fortune.

• Partech Ventures, a French-based early-stage VC firm, has raised €100 million ($108 million) for a fund that aims to finance roughly 80 seed-stage startups in the U.S. and Europe, according to Venturebeat. Read more.

NEW JOBS

• Frank Cooper has joined BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) as the firm’s global chief marketing officer, according to the Wall Street Journal. Previously, he was marketing chief and chief creative officer at Buzzfeed. Read more.

• City Financial has added four members to its investment team. Amy Wong, William Dumas and Justin Brodersen will join the firm’s New York City office, while Simon Taylor will be based in London. Previously, all worked at Fortress Investment Group (NYSE:FIG).

• Sean Darin has joined private equity firm O2 Investment Partners as part of its investment team. Previously, Darin worked at RIN Capital and FINNEA Group.

• Chris Bires has joined 50 South Capital Advisors, a subsidiary of Northern Trust Corp, as a director of product strategy and investor relations. Previously, Bires was a director of global distribution at Citadel.

• Anthony Forshaw has joined Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) as a managing director in the capital markets group. Previously, Forshaw was a managing director in the corporate finance group at Deutsche Bank.