The Daily Deal articles from November 2001

The Daily Deal archives from November 2001

AVL Information reworks Microart acquisition.
November 1, 2001... Sarnia, Ontario-based AVL Information Systems Ltd. said Wednesday it has agreed to restructure terms of its acquisition of Microart Services Inc. Under the deal, Avlis will now purchase Microart for C$1.2 million ($760,746), comprising a cash...

Again Technologies.
November 1, 2001... Pleasanton, Calif.-based Again Technologies, an enterprise incentive management software firm, has secured $15 million in a third round of equity funding led by first-time investor InterWest Partners. Other investors include Palomar Ventures,...

Allied Domecq.
November 1, 2001... LONDON -- Drinks company Allied Domecq plc said Tuesday it would separate its wine operations. It could spin the unit off to shareholders at some point in the future. Its wine business will operate as a separate division from next year. Allied...

Attenza.
November 1, 2001... Dallas-based Attenza, an online technical support company, has secured $6.3 million in a second round of financing. Venture Strategy Partners of San Francisco led the round, and WR Hambrecht & Co., Attenza's Series A lead investor, participated...

Bioglan gets debt relief, rejects CeNeS charges.
November 1, 2001... U.K. drug company Bioglan Pharma plc, which in October called off talks to buy Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s skincare products, said Wednesday said it has extended by a month a standstill agreement with bankers. The agreement was due to end...

Cellomics.
November 1, 2001... Citing general market conditions, Cellomics Inc. withdrew its IPO of up to $60 million. The Pittsburgh-based company had filed to offer 6 million shares at $8 to $10 per share. The company specializes in the study of molecules that make up...

Clicklogistics.
November 1, 2001... Boston-based Clicklogistics Inc., a provider of logistics technology and management services, said Tuesday it has secured a "seven figure" additional round of funding through investor GTCR Golder Rauner Fund VII. Clicklogistics will use the...

DTU Invest.
November 1, 2001... A consortium of Danish companies, science groups and universities have come together to pour DKr85 million ($10.4 million) into a new Danish venture firm, DTU Invest, the Danish News Digest reported. Food, sugar and ingredients company Danisco,...

ESBATech.
November 1, 2001... Swiss biotech startup ESBATech AG said Wednesday it has closed the first tranche of its second round of financing that was led by Geneva-based private bank Lombard Odier & Cie. Terms weren't disclosed. Other participants in the round included...

EVault.
November 1, 2001... Walnut Creek, Calif.-based EVault put $8.5 million in its vault to complete its Series B of financing. The additional capital, which came from River Cities Capital Funds, will be used to strengthen its sales and marketing and expand its...

F&C Management considers PE investments.
November 1, 2001... London-based F&C Management Ltd., an asset-management unit of Eureko BV of the Netherlands, said its flagship Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust is considering making private equity investments. A spokeswoman for F&C said no firm decision has...

Golden Star sells assets for $8.9M.
November 1, 2001... Looking to raise cash and finance operations in West Africa, gold mining company Golden Star Resources Ltd. said Wednesday it is selling holdings in Suriname and Guyana to Longueuil, Quebec, competitor Cambior Inc. for $8.9 million. In the...

Goldman hired to sell NextCard.
November 1, 2001... NextCard Inc., a San Francisco-based online credit card issuer, said Wednesday it had hired Goldman Sachs & Co. to sell the company. In a statement, NextCard said "regulatory limitations on business" in part prompted the move. NextCard also...

ICU DataSystems.
November 1, 2001... Patient monitoring technology firm ICU DataSystems has received a funding award from the National Medical Technology Testbed that will allow IT to fast-track product development. National Medical gears its scientific review and award to funding...

Kovair.
November 1, 2001... San Jose, Calif.-based Kovair Inc., a provider of strategic account management software, said Tuesday it has received nearly $7 million in funding from new investors Glynn Capital and Amicus Inc. and returning investors New Enterprise...

Magnet Communications.
November 1, 2001... Atlanta-based Magnet Communications Inc., a developer of online business banking software, secured $13 million in venture and credit financing. The company picked up $8 million in equity funding from CORALVentures, Cordova Ventures, LiveOak...

Mariner Energy sells pipelines.
November 1, 2001... Houston oil and gas explorer Mariner Energy Inc. said Wednesday it would sell its interests in the Aconcagua field and the Canyon Express pipeline system in the Gulf of Mexico to Nippon Oil Exploration USA Ltd. for $51 million. The field is one...

Millennium Bancshares Corp.
November 1, 2001... Reston, Va.-based Millennium Bancshares Corp. filed for an initial public offering of up to $8.05 million. The company will issue 1.15 million shares at $6 to $7 per share. The company owns Millennium Bank NA, a nationally chartered...

Nassda Corp.
November 1, 2001... Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nassda Corp. set the price range for its IPO at $8 to $10 per share for 5 million shares. The IPO will total up to $50 million. The company provides full-chip circuit simulation and analysis software for the design and...

Orion Power completes filings for Reliant merger.
November 1, 2001... Baltimore power plant developer Orion Power Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it had made substantial progress on its proposed merger with Houston's Reliant Resources Inc., including making necessary regulatory filings and establishing an...

PowerWAN Inc.
November 1, 2001... Venture capital firm Anila Fund of Palo Alto, Calif., said Tuesday it has made another undisclosed investment in PowerWAN Inc., a Palo Alto-based developer of telecommunications access infrastructure equipment for the power utilities industry....

Robert W. Hunt sold to U.S. Labs.
November 1, 2001... U.S. Laboratories Inc., a San Diego provider of quality control specialty services to the construction, energy and defense industries, said Wednesday it was acquiring Robert W. Hunt Co., a Lombard, Ill., quality control services provider to the...

Rowan Cos. buying Oilfield-Electric.
November 1, 2001... Houston provider of contract drilling and aviation services Rowan Cos. said Wednesday it has agreed to acquire Oilfield-Electric-Marine Inc. and Oilfield's Industrial Logic Systems Inc. subsidiary for about $8 million in stock. The deal is set...

Tech Coast Angels.
November 1, 2001... Laguna Beach, Calif.-based investment club Tech Coast Angels has funded $13.75 million in deals for 13 early-stage technology companies in Southern California since the first of the year, it said Wednesday. Members of the 220-strong group have...

Trinity gets Transport Capital.
November 1, 2001... Dallas construction company and railcar builder Trinity Industries Inc. said Wednesday it has reached an agreement to buy Transport Capital llc, a privately held, Chicago management company that serves railroads, in a transaction valued at less...

United Petroleum files for Chapter 11 in Delaware.
November 1, 2001... United Petroleum Corp., a Miami-based convenience store, gasoline station and car wash operator, and six of its subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The privately held company also has interests...

Wellspring International.
November 1, 2001... San Diego's Wellspring International has raised in $7.95 million in its Series B financing for the development of its water submetering division. The water meter installation company's round was led by Nth Power and included Archstone...

Nx Networks to file for bankruptcy protection.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Cheryl Meyer Nx Networks, a Herndon, Va.-based provider of Internet telephony technology for service providers and network carriers, said Nov. 1 it will file for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern...

Quality Stores plows into bankruptcy.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Jonathan Berke Two weeks after its bondholders forced it into bankruptcy, Quality Stores Inc. filed a voluntary petition Nov. 1 with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan in Grand Rapids. Quality...

PhotoChannel's U.S. unit gets overexposed.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Laura King in Toronto Vancouver, British Columbia-based PhotoChannel Networks Inc. said Nov. 1 that its U.S. subsidiary has filed for bankruptcy because it is not making enough money through its direct-to-consumer online photo...

Judge could alter asbestos claim valuations.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Terry Brennan Lawyers involved in asbestos-related bankruptcies will watch a New Orleans judge today to see if he takes two views of the past when trying to determine if bankrupt Babcock & Wilcox Co. illegally passed along $622...

At Home bondholders hammer away at AT&T.
November 1, 2001... Byline: David Shabelman Attorneys for creditors opposed to bankrupt At Home Corp.'s sale of its broadband network to AT&T Corp. continue to argue that At Home did not get fair value for these assets. Attorneys for bondholders, who are...

Lucent in pursuit of positive Ebitda.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Sarah Cohen Debt-ridden Lucent Technologies Inc. just can't find enough of itself to sell these days ? despite a deadline at the end of March next year when it must be "Ebidta positive" to complete its spinoff of microelectronics...

Feds and Microsoft near settlement.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Jaret Seiberg in Washington The Microsoft Corp. antitrust case may finally be over. Sources said several states Nov. 1 tentatively accepted a proposed settlement reached between the Department of Justice and Microsoft rather...

Layoff roundup: week ending Nov. 1.
November 1, 2001... Byline: David Ehrlich So many jobs were cut in the wake of Sept. 11 that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has had to add a new category to its measurements of jobless claims. The "non-natural disaster" code, to be used by the labor bureau...

Takeover panel rejects WPP's request.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Brian Cattell LONDON -- Britain's takeover panel on Thursday rejected an appeal by WPP plc of its decision to compel the advertising group to proceed with a [pound]434 million ($635 million) agreement to acquire media buying agency...

Alltel continues with $6B CenturyTel bid.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Leon Lazaroff Since Sept. 11, Scott Ford has turned down the rhetorical volume in his hostile bid for rural phone rival CenturyTel Inc., but the Alltel Corp. president insisted his company will not withdraw the offer despite...

Rabble Babble.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Stacy Mosher The news never rests, and nowhere is it busier than on the Internet bulletin boards. This column excerpts the choicest messages on the latest deals. Postings are selected from several sources, including Yahoo!, Raging...

Frucor seeks rival bids to Danone's.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Giles Parkinson SYDNEY - New Zealand juice company Frucor Beverages Group Ltd. said Nov. 1 it had hired Credit Suisse First Boston to seek rival offers to the NZ$294 million ($122.4 million) cash bid by French beverage giant Groupe...

Chinese giants cut bank deal in Hong Kong.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Two of China's largest state-owned conglomerates have decided Hong Kong's fragmented banking sector isn't big enough for the two of them. Citic Kah Wah Bank, majority-owned by China's leading...

German banks to merge mortgage units.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Jonathan Braude BERLIN -- Three of Germany's biggest banks will announce an agreement Nov. 6 to combine their mortgage banking units, in a move to boost their margins in the sector. A Frankfurt banking source said Nov. 1 that...

Healthcare M&A sinks 68% as $1B deals dry up.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Kevin DeGeeter U.S. healthcare companies spent only $7.9 billion on mergers and acquisitions in the third quarter this year, down 68% from the three months ended June 30, according to a report published last week by Irving Levin...

Verizon Wireless buys Dobson assets.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Padraic Cassidy Verizon Wireless on Nov. 1 signed a definitive agreement to purchase rural and suburban wireless service provider Dobson Communications Corp. operations in California, Georgia, Ohio and Tennessee, for $465 million....

FCC names panel to review DirecTV deal.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Ron Orol The U.S. Federal Communications Commission announced Nov. 1 it is setting up an intra-agency team of FCC officials to review EchoStar Communications Corp.'s proposed $25 billion acquisition of General Motors Corp.'s Hughes...

Greece's top two banks merge.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Siobhan Almond Greece's top two banks agreed to merge Nov. 1, marking the country's second major bank deal in a week and strengthening expectations of more consolidation in the sector. National Bank of Greece, the country's...

PE Column: Combination punch.
November 1, 2001... Byline: David Carey The limp deal market got you on the mat? For a psychic lift, cast your mind back a decade to a time of financial torpor without equal. From late 1989 until early 1991 -- when Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc. bought IBM's...

Berlin bank's price may rise for U.S. buyers.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Josh Kosman The two U.S. private equity firms -- JC Flowers and the Texas Pacific Group -- vying for Berlin's biggest bank may need to commit [Euro]1 billion ($904 million) more than expected to save the troubled lender. The...

VCscore.
November 1, 2001... More venture capital analysis www.TheDeal.com

SS8 raises $62M, acquires unit.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio In an unusual venture-backed transaction, startup SS8 Networks Inc. has lit up the slow-growing market for next generation network switching with a $45 million acquisition financed largely by New York private equity...

Japan's Genista lands $7M for 3G software.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Charles Smith TOKYO -- Genista Corp., a provider of software designed to improve the quality of mobile-phone transmissions, said Thursday it has received a $7 million first round of funding from a group of venture capital companies...

After jolts to business, NetEffect ekes out $3.3M round.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Katherine Goncharoff NetEffect Corp., which helps companies manage their network communications, has managed to raise $3.3 million in a Series C round, but only after jettisoning its CEO, hiring a turnaround wiz and cleaving staff...

Altana gets GPC Biotech stake.
November 2, 2001... German pharmaceutical company GPC Biotech AG said Thursday that German competitor Altana AG is paying [Euro]34.2 million ($30.9 million) for an 8.3% GPC stake. GPC Biotech will issue 1.69 million new shares to Altana priced at [Euro]20.25 a...

Athena Diagnostics.
November 2, 2001... Worcester, Mass.-based Athena Diagnostics Inc. filed for a $119.7 million initial public offering. Athena didn't specify price or volume. The company is a diagnostic laboratory focused on assays primarily marketed to neurologists. Proceeds will...

Best Buy says 98% of Future Shop shares tendered.
November 2, 2001... Best Buy Co. said Thursday its offer for Canadian consumer electronics chain Future Shop Ltd. of Burnaby, British Columbia, has expired and 98% of shareholders have tendered to the C$17 ($10.80) per share bid. Bloomington, Minn.-based Best Buy...

Canada's Royal Bank completes Tucker Anthony buy.
November 2, 2001... Royal Bank of Canada said Thursday it has completed its $625 million acquisition of Boston brokerage Tucker Anthony Sutro and has begun to integrating the firm with its U.S. broker subsidiary, Dain Rauscher Inc. The deal, announced Aug. 1, was...

Dominion's $2.3B acquisition of Louis Dreyfus done.
November 2, 2001... Richmond, Va., utility Dominion Resources Inc. said Thursday it completed its purchase of Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas Corp. of Oklahoma City for $2.3 billion in cash, stock and assumed debt. Dominion announced the deal Sept. 10 for $890 million...

Hadron buys rival Analex.
November 2, 2001... Hadron Inc., an Alexandria, Va., company providing high-tech engineering services to U.S. government agencies, said Thursday it has agreed to acquire Analex Corp., a privately held Littleton, Colo., rival, in a transaction valued at least $19.1...

Ibsen Photonics.
November 2, 2001... Danish optical components maker Ibsen Photonics A/S has received a $4.8 million financing from Dansk Kapitalanlaeg. The investment, announced Thursday by the investor, consists of a $537,000 equity investment and $4.3 million subordinated loan....

Ireland OKs $2.7B purchase of Eircom by Valentia.
November 2, 2001... The Irish government Thursday approved the acquisition of the country's largest phone company Eircom plc by Valentia, a consortium which includes Soros Private Equity Partners and Goldman, Sachs & Co. Valentia in early August launched its...

Meridea Financial Software.
November 2, 2001... Finnish insurance giant Sampo Oy said Thursday it has joined forces with consulting company Accenture, mobile handset maker Nokia Oy and British venture capital firm 3i Group plc to finance the launch of financial software maker Meridea...

Northern Light Technology.
November 2, 2001... Search and content technology provider Northern Light Technology llc of Cambridge, Mass., has closed on $20 million in financing led by led by former Microsoft chief software architect, Gregory Whitten, who was appointed chairman of the...

Plexus Vaccine.
November 2, 2001... San Diego biotech firm Plexus Vaccine Inc. has completed a $750,000 seed round of financing. Participants include strategic partner MolSoft llc and a number of European and U.S. based private investors. Rockport Venture Partners of Gloucester,...

Regent Energy hires adviser.
November 2, 2001... Houston oil and gas explorer Regent Energy Corp. said it hired American Energy Advisors in Denver to assist it with the sale of its interests in oil and gas assets in the Gulf of Mexico. The assets are in oil fields operated by New York oil...

S2 Technologies.
November 2, 2001... Software and middleware developer S2 Technologies, a San Diego-based startup partly owned by Oryx Technology Corp., a Nasdaq-traded licensing and investment management company in San Jose, Calif., has entered into a private placement agreement...

SS8 Networks.
November 2, 2001... San Jose, Calif.-based SS8 Networks Inc., a provider of Internet Protocol signaling and services for next-generation network operators, said Thursday it has closed on a $62 million equity financing package led by New York's Warburg Pincus,...

Semantix.
November 2, 2001... Business software and services provider Semantix Inc. of Montreal has landed $4 million in Series B funding from CDP Sofinov, Innovatech du Grand Montreal and the Solidarity Fund QFL. The fresh cash will be used to accelerate sales, build...

Senior Care nabs Nevada property.
November 2, 2001... Laguna Beach, Calif., builder of senior communities Senior Care Industries Inc. said Thursday that it has agreed to acquire an 800-acre residential site in Elko, Nev., from an undisclosed buyer for $60 million in cash and stock. The company...

Silex Microsystems.
November 2, 2001... Swedish micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) startup Silex Microsystems AB said Thursday it has raised [Euro]2.7 million ($2.1 million) in a first round of financing from Swedish venture capitalists Startupfactory AB and Swedestart Tech KB....

Superior Fed sold to Charter One.
November 2, 2001... Charter One Financial Inc., the Cleveland parent of Charter One Bank, said it would pay $52.4 million to expand further in the Chicago area by buying Hinsdale, Ill.-based Superior Federal Bank. Superior Federal was set up by the U.S. Federal...

Sutter boosts offer for Income Opportunity Realty.
November 2, 2001... Two days after being publicly rejected, San Francisco private equity firm Sutter Capital Management llc said Thursday that it has increased its offer to $26 a share for Income Opportunity Realty Investors to $26 per share. Sutter's new offer...

VCA Antech.
November 2, 2001... Los Angeles-based VCA Antech Inc. set the price of its IPO at $12 to $14 per share. The offering of 14 million shares will total up to $196 million. The company operates the largest network of veterinary diagnostic laboratories and...

Village Ventures Inc.
November 2, 2001... Williamstown, Ma.-based Village Ventures Inc., which provides venture capital in both regional and emerging technology markets, has launched its 13th affiliated fund in Central Florida. The fund's new offices will be headed up by Dan Rua in...

Wavemakers.
November 2, 2001... Vancouver, British Columbia-based Wavemakers Inc., a developer of software used in voice recognition technologies, in September received an equity investment of undisclosed size. The financing was provided by GATX/MM Venture Finance...

Going from bad to worse at Payless Cashways.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Terry Brennan A bad situation at bankrupt Payless Cashways Inc. seems to be getting worse, as inventories being sold off as part of its liquidation are almost 37% lower than expected and could lead the retailer to default on $57...

Bracknell defaults, its Adesta unit bankrupt.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Sarah Cohen Shares of Bracknell Corp. resumed trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange at midday Friday but not on the Nasdaq after the Minneapolis-based company acknowledged that its lenders declared it in default of repayments and...

Chapter 7 was only the option for PhotoChannel.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Laura King in Toronto One day after putting PhotoChannel Networks Inc.'s U.S. unit into Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the company's CEO said doing so "was the only realistic business decision available." CEO Peter Scarth said in a...

Congress holds key to ending wireless battle.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Leon Lazaroff The U.S. telecommunications companies battling over wireless spectrum licenses moved closer to settling their five-year-old dispute last week, but the process will be derailed if Congress does not pass legislation...

Lenders fear for their liens on BethSteel assets.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Jonathan Berke Despite objections from creditors such as Bank of America Corp., bankrupt Bethlehem Steel Corp. appears closer to getting final approval for a $450 million debtor-in-possession financing facility that GE Capital...

White Mountains to form $1B reinsurer.
November 2, 2001... Byline: David Weidner White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. is seeking to build a new, Bermuda-based reinsurer with $1 billion in capital, the company said Nov. 2. Hanover, N.H.-based White Mountains plans to invest $200 million and...

Korean credit card company presses on with debut.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon in Seoul SEOUL -- Amid a skeptical market and after takeover negotiations with a local unit of Citigroup Inc. faltered last month, Korea Exchange Bank Credit Service Co. intends to go public and list on the Korean Stock...

IPOs fared well in October.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Heidi Moore Call it Oktoberfest. After a gratifying run during October, initial public offerings will take a breather this week before sending a fleet of deals to market the week of Nov. 12. The only deal scheduled to come to...

ING bids for Spain's Filo.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Mike Elkin MADRID -- Dutch financial company ING Groep NV on Nov. 2 unveiled a plan to expand in Spain through a [Euro]261 million ($236 million) offer for Barcelona-based developer Filo SA. The Amsterdam-based insurer and...

Wall Street 10005.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Yvette Kantrow Motherhood and all it suggests -- tradition, loyalty, free lunches -- has been taking a beating on Wall Street. J.P. Morgan's (aka Mother Morgan) took too long to discard its storied, paternalistic ways, and found...

Court kills labor suit against AIG's Hyundai deals.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- A Korean court has dismissed a lawsuit by a labor union demanding cancellation of an agreement to sell three Hyundai financial units to a consortium led by the American International Group. The Seoul District...