Staff Writer

NEW YORK – Venture firms returned to the initial public offering market in the first quarter, raising $1.85 billion through 26 initial public offerings in the quarter, according to preliminary data gathered by Venture Economics Information Services, a data company affiliated with VCJ, and sister publications Private Equity Week and The IPO Reporter. Internet-related entities […]

NEW YORK – Lehman Brothers is creating a $350 million to $400 million venture fund that will invest in small companies. In an unprecedented move, the firm is offering its institutional and high-net-worth clients an opportunity to buy into the fund with a minimum investment of $500,000. “This is really an extension of our investment […]

BOSTON – The Pioneer Group Inc.’s venture arm in mid-March spun out and formed its own firm, Ascent Venture Management Inc., and at the same time Pioneer sold its interests in three of its venture subsidiary’s funds to Landmark Partners Inc. Ascent will continue to manage the three funds raised under Pioneer’s umbrella – Pioneer […]

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Another player has entered the corporate venture capital fray, and this time it is a company that received its own venture financing not too long ago. Online investment brokerage E*Trade Group Inc. in March formed a $150 million captive venture capital unit headed by Thomas Bevilacqua, the company’s former independent counsel […]

While Social Security reform isn’t exactly the sexiest topic of discussion among venture capitalists, it might benefit them to pay the issue a little more heed. As Senior Writer Shawn Neidorf tells us (story page 37), if paying Social Security dues becomes mandatory for public employees, it could significantly diminish the amount of capital that […]

SAN FRANCISCO – Annette Bianchi, a general partner at Weiss, Peck & Greer Venture Partners, has departed the firm after seven years to become a managing director at Pacific Venture Group, a Southern California health-care venture group. Ms. Bianchi, who is a medical technology investor, said the transition was a “natural progression” for her, noting […]

Lawyers are sometimes chided for dwelling on distinctions that strike the uninitiated as arcane. Accordingly, the distinction that a distribution of portfolio company stock from a venture fund to its limited partners in kind is just that – a “distribution” rather than a sale – probably will excite a venture fund’s counsel much more than […]

STAMFORD, Conn. – Priceline.com Inc., an online auction site, held an initial public offering March 29. The stock priced at $16, well above the $12 to $14 price range. The company offered 10 million shares. Underwriters include Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co., Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., BancBoston Robertson Stephen Inc. […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) will renew its contract with general consultant, Wilshire Associates. The $153 billion pension at press time was negotiating the terms and fees for the evergreen deal. Wilshire has served as CalPERS general consultant for 17 years, and the firm’s current five-year, $3 million contract expires […]

SAN FRANCISCO -Sofinnova Venture Partners IV was slated for a final wrap on about $73 million in mid-April. Launched in late 1997, the $60 million-targeted fund was raised in Europe and the United States and held multiple closes (VCJ, November 1998, page 14). European backers – mostly French – put up about two-thirds of the […]