Luisa Beltran
Which PE firm had the best exit this year? Who took the biggest dividend? Which beer is best to celebrate the holidays?
If the last one is important to you, please join me on Thursday, when peHUB Shindig returns to Manhattan. We'll be at Connolly’s Pub and Restaurant, starting at 5:30 pm.
Tickets are $10 a piece and I'm told there are still some left. Proceeds will go to a nonprofit that will be chosen by event attendees.
So I'll be there plus a couple hundred local PE execs, venture capitalists, bankers, entrepreneurs, lawyers and assorted people. We can talk about deals and dividends, if anyone wants. I’m only promising good conversations and drinks.
This morning's big news is a departure. Mary Meeker, the so-called "Queen of the Net," is leaving Morgan Stanley to join Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Meeker will join Kleiner Perkins' digital practice, where she will be a partner. She will invest in start-up technology companies and help current KPCB-backed companies grow, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Mary was an early supporter of some of the biggest technology investment winners of the past 20 years,” said John Doerr, a Kleiner Perkins partner, in a statement. “Her advice and support are already highly sought after by entrepreneurs and in this new role, she will be able to spend even more time providing more direct assistance.”
More than a year after selling its remaining stake in J. Crew, TPG is set to own the preppy retailer again.
Today, TPG, along with Leonard Green, agreed to buy J. Crew for $43.50 a share or roughly $3 billion. J. Crew CEO Millard Drexler is part of the deal and will maintain a "significant equity investment" in the company, according to a statement.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs are providing debt financing.
The transaction isn't set in stone. Drexler reportedly wasn't happy with how TPG revamped the deal (TPG and Leonard Green were supposed to offer $45 a share as of last weekend but TPG reduced the offer to $43.50), Dealbook says. The deal announced Tuesday also includes a go-shop period where J. Crew can solicit other offers through Jan. 15. Drexler could join forces with a new bidder. If there is no superior offer, the sale is expected to close in the first half of 2011.
Megan Minich has joined Silicon Valley Bank as head of global channel solutions. Minich joins Silicon Valley from Wells Fargo Bank, where she most recently served as senior VP and head of commercial electronic office channel management for the wholesale internet solutions group. Santa Clara, Calif.-based SVB focuses on companies in the technology, life science, venture capital, private equity and premium wine industries
CincyTech has participated in a $2 million venture round for NanoDetection Technology. CincyTech, a public-private venture development organization, invested $250,000 in NanoDetection, while Southern Ohio Creates Companies put in $100,000, according to a statement. NanoDetection Tech is a medical devices company that involved in the detection of specific genes, antibodies or pathogens within a biological or environmental sample. Because of the round, NanoDetection will move from Oak Ridge, Tenn. to Cincinnati where it will be led by former Union Springs Pharmaceuticals President Joel Ivers.
Velocity Financial Group said Tuesday that it has closed a management led buyout of Velocity's business lines from Core Financial Holdings. Financial terms were not announced. American Capital, a publicly traded PE firm, owns a majority stake in Core Financial. Boston-based Velocity is a specialty finance company that serves both PE and VC companies. Parish Capital Advisors provided financing.
GrubHub has closed $11 million in Series C funding led by Benchmark Capital. GrubHub, of Chicago, provides a web and mobile services the organizes restaurant data for consumers. Benchmark is Menlo Park, Calif.-based VC firm that has invested in OpenTable, Yelp, Zillow, Twitter and eBay.
Brad Gerstner has joined the board of Off & Away, a Seattle-based auction site for travel connoisseurs. Off & Away in October received a $2 million follow-on investment led by Madrona Venture Group, a Seattle VC firm. Gerstner is founder & CEO of Altimeter Capital Management.
Paul Ghaffari was named CIO of Vulcan Capital, which is the investment arm of Vulcan Inc. Ghaffari is a founding partner of FrontPoint Partners and was most recently a portfolio manager at Palatine Hill Partners. He will be responsible for managing Vulcan Capital's investment activities. Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, started Vulcan Inc. in 1986 to manage his philanthropic and business endeavors. Vulcan Capital was formed in 2003 and has invested in Charter Communications and DreamWorks.
nContact Surgical has closed a $16 million Series D round of financing, led by existing investor, Harbert Venture Partners. ZMV Associates, a new investor, also participated. nContact Surgical, a Morrisville, N.C.-based developer of tissue coagulation devices for use in surgical procedures, said total financing for the company has reached $42.4 million.