The Daily Deal articles from November 2002

The Daily Deal archives from November 2002

DSL.net buys up NAS.
November 30, 2002... Byline: Sarah Cohen Network Access Solutions Corp., a Herndon, Va.-based broadband services provider which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June, and the company’s creditors accepted DSL.net Inc.’s $14 million bid as the...

Candover buys diaper maker.
November 30, 2002... Byline: Nicola Hobday in London U.K. private equity firm Candover said Friday, Nov. 29, it agreed to buy a majority share in Belgium-based Ontex NV, Europe's leading maker of diapers and feminine hygiene products, for €592 million...

Apax buys into Wickes.
November 30, 2002... Byline: Joshua Jaffe in London London-based private equity firm Apax Partners said Friday, Nov. 29, it bought a 28.9% stake in Focus Wickes Ltd., the U.K.'s second-largest home improvement chain, from competitor Duke Street Capital and...

Arryx.
November 28, 2002... Chicago-based Arryx Inc. has completed a $2.1 million third round from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and other undisclosed investors. Arryx makes laser-based systems for applications in the agricultural, pharmaceutical and biotech industries and...

Bloodhound.
November 28, 2002... Application service provider claim Bloodhound Inc. of Research Triangle Park, N.C., announced Wednesday has raised $3 million in additional capital in a fifth round of funding led by Noro-Moseley Partners of Atlanta. The Wakefield Group of...

Direvo.
November 28, 2002... Cologne, Germany-based biotech company Direvo Biotech AG said Tuesday it has raised [Euro]10.5 million ($10.4 million) in a second round co-led by Danisco Venture of Copenhagen and TVM of Munich. Other investors included SK...

Iotronics.
November 28, 2002... Munich- and Atlanta-based Iotronics GmbH, the owner of Iotronics Corp., received a $2 million investment from BayTech Venture Capital. Founded in 1999 in Atlanta, Iotronics will use the funds to take its Internet-protocol telephony product...

Medisyn Technologies.
November 28, 2002... Cancer research firm Medisyn Technologies Inc. of Minneapolis said Tuesday it had raised $1.6 million in new financing from venture investors. Lead investor Sherpa Partners LLC of Minneapolis was joined by StarTec Investments of Bloomington,...

Plastic Logic.
November 28, 2002... Cambridge, U.K.-based Plastic Logic, a developer of plastic electronics technology, announced a pound sterling2.45 million ($3.83 million) second closing of its first round of private financing. With a first closing of pound sterling6.3...

Trinity Venture Fund II.
November 28, 2002... Trinity Venture Capital in Dublin has closed a [Euro]140 million ($138.8 million) technology investment fund, Trinity Venture Fund II. The money will be used to invest in early- and growth-stage technology companies in Ireland. The fund has...

HomeNet.
November 28, 2002... Limerick, Ireland-based HomeNet Communications Ltd., a developer of streaming media technology, has received [Euro]1.225 million ($1.2 million) in a first round of financing led by ICC Venture Capital. Existing seed capital investors eircom...

Medisyn.
November 28, 2002... Minneapolis-based Medisyn Technologies Inc. a biotechnology company focused on discovering new cancer treatments, has completed a $1.6 million financing. New investor Sherpa Partners led the round, with StarTec Investments also participating....

Riva.
November 28, 2002... San Francisco-based Riva Commerce Inc., a provider of enterprise compliance management software, has closed an undisclosed Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital of Menlo Park, Calif. Mentor Capital Group also invested in the round, which...

WorldCom, SEC strike partial deal.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Chris Nolter WorldCom Inc. reached a partial settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding civil fraud charges on Tuesday, Nov. 26, that will allow it to move “more confidently” toward a financial...

Oakwood gets interim funding.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke A federal bankruptcy judge late Tuesday, Nov. 26, gave Oakwood Homes Corp. approval for $25 million in interim debtor-in-possession financing from a Foothill Capital Corp.-led syndicate. The funds will serve...

DSL.net offers $2M more for NAS.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Shanon D. Murray DSL.net Inc. increased the cash portion of its offer for Network Access Solutions Corp. by $2 million, sources familiar with the auction process said Wednesday. The move makes DSL.net the preferred bidder for...

Adelphia freezes Rigases' assets.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke and Greg Johnson The Rigas family should have seen this coming. Last week's move by Adelphia Communications Corp. to freeze the assets of its founding family was modeled after similar actions taken against...

Safety-Kleen files reorg plan.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke Safety-Kleen Corp. filed its proposed plan of reorganization late Wednesday, Nov. 27, with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington. The Columbia, S.C.-based trash hauler has been...

Japan state bank tackles zombies.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo Torn between trying to balance their books and helping to finance an economic recovery, Japan's private banks may be one of the worst cases of corporate gridlock in capitalism's history. But state-owned...

Qwest amends credit facility.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Chris Nolter Qwest Communications International Inc. has amended its $2 billion credit facility, paving the way for a debt exchange the struggling telecom hopes will avert a future cash crunch. The revisions, announced in a...

Corning's pane in the glass.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Sarah Cohen In its 150 years in business, Corning Inc. has shown a protean ability to change with the times, shifting its emphasis from glassware and light bulbs to television tubes and kitchen products. But the Corning,...

AWG assets for sale.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Nicola Hobday in London U.K. water services company AWG plc said it's in talks with a number of interested parties about the sale of its international businesses and said offers have been more than pound sterling200 million ($310...

Japanese gamers to merge.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo Japan's unpredictable game software industry will become a little less volatile when the $2 billion merger planned for April 2003 between two of the industry's four listed specialized producers, Square Co....

Snia snaps up Carbomedics.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Heather O'Brian In a move designed to expand its presence in the United States and cardiovascular devices markets, Milan-based medical technology company Snia SpA has agreed to acquire Carbomedics Inc. for $116 million. Snia...

VUE bid reveals Diller's weak spot.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Richard Morgan Although Vivendi Universal SA has rebuffed a $20 billion bid for its entertainment assets, few expect the proposal's architect to go away. If anything, the bid and suitors Brian C. Mulligan brought together have...

Cesky privatization on the ropes.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Brian Cattell in London Has Central Europe's biggest private equity transaction gone bust? Falling telecommunications values have apparently prompted talks to collapse on the [Euro]1.82 billion ($1.81 billion) sale of the...

Asbestos claims hinder UIC sale.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Ron Orol United Industrial Corp. reiterated in a shareholder note Wednesday, Nov. 27, that asbestos litigation is hampering its ability to sell the company but that its defense and training systems operations are experiencing...

Fording pursues reorg, courts bidders.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Laura King TORONTO -- Coal giant Fording Inc. still plans to reorganize into an income trust but also is in talks with potential suitors as it fights a C$1.6 billion ($1 billion) hostile takeover bid from rival Sherritt...

Embratel may be auctioned.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Mike Kepp in Rio de Janeiro Days after Brazilian long-distance carrier Embratel Participacoes SA deflated speculation that rival telecoms could soon take it over, opinions from the Brazilian government and analysts have revived...

Level 3 to scoop up Genuity.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Chris Nolter Level 3 Communications Inc. ended weeks of speculation just before the holiday weekend by announcing that it will acquire nearly all of Genuity Inc.'s assets for up to $242 million in cash and assume significant...

3i leads buyout of UTT.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London Two British private equity firms, 3i Group plc and Close Brothers Private Equity, are on opposite sides of a [Euro]100 million ($99.36 million) leveraged buyout of Dutch transport specialist United...

Weider puts AMI in good Shape.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Richard Morgan Wily David Pecker of American Media Inc. had every reason to celebrate going into Thanksgiving. Not only had his company just won the auction for Weider Publications Inc., but his structuring of the $350 million...

Bain and G-P close Unisource deal.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Kelly Holman Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific Corp. and Bain Capital Inc., a Boston private equity firm, announced Wednesday, Nov. 27, that Bain Capital has completed its acquisition of Unisource Worldwide Inc., Georgia-Pacific's...

Nanotech dealflow picks up.
November 28, 2002... Byline: Tyson Freeman A recent burst of venture capital financings among nanotechnology companies shows that investors are navigating past the nano hype in search of startups promising VC-style profits from their hunt for this on-again,...

Alliance Medical.
November 26, 2002... Medical devices reprocessor Alliance Medical Corp. of Phoenix has completed a $7.3 million fifth round. The company is valued at more than $70 million, an increase over its valuation in previous rounds, said CFO Tim Einwechter. Merrill Lynch...

Business Venture Promotion.
November 26, 2002... Business Venture Promotion, Thailand's first venture capital firm established in 1987, plans to launch a private equity fund, BVP Venture Capital Management Securities, in 2003, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported Monday. BVP Venture Capital...

Kadiri.
November 26, 2002... Burlingame, Calif.-based Kadiri Inc., a provider of enterprise compensation management software, said Monday it has closed a $7.5 million strategic round led by new investor Voyager Capital. Existing investors ONSET Ventures, Wheatley...

PerformanceRetail.
November 26, 2002... Convenience store software vendor PerformanceRetail Inc. of Austin, Texas, has received a $5 million venture debt investment from Lighthouse Capital Partners in Greenbrae, Calif. The company sells a package of hosted services and software...

Pixio.
November 26, 2002... Corvallis, Ore.-based Pixio Corp., a provider of wireless, digital point-of-purchase merchandising software for retail consumers, has received an undisclosed seed round from private investors. The company hopes to raise $600,000 in its...

Spiration.
November 26, 2002... Medical device developer Spiration Inc. of Redmond, Va., received an equity investment from Guidant Corp. for an undisclosed amount. Spiration manufactures medical devices to treat lung disease and has products under development -- the VALR...

Sygate.
November 26, 2002... Security software maker Sygate Technologies Inc. of Fremont, Calif., has raised $17.5 million in a fourth round of funding, resulting in an increased valuation. First time investor Trinity Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif., led the financing...

TFG Venture Capital.
November 26, 2002... TFG Venture Capital AG, a listed German venture capital firm based in Marl, is changing its portfolio strategy to invest in public rather than private companies as problems continue to afflict the industry, the U.K.'s eFinance News reported....

Talkway Communications.
November 26, 2002... Fremont, Calif.-based Talkway Communications received a $3 million financing commitment from a group of investors led by Asset Management Partners with participation from other undisclosed investors. The capital will be used for sales and...

Former execs pressure NRG with filing.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Soma Biswas Five former executives with $23.5 million in compensation claims against NRG Energy Inc. have put more pressure on the troubled power generation and energy trading company by making an involuntary bankruptcy in St....

Buffett to rescue Oakwood Homes.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will try its hand at prefabricated house building after announcing it would take control of Oakwood Homes Corp. when it emerges from bankruptcy. Oakwood revealed over...

Ross eyes BethSteel, sans legacy costs.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Greg Johnson While not etched on stainless plating just yet, it's looking more and more like bankrupt Bethlehem Steel Corp. will be sold in pieces. According to Bette Kovach, a BethSteel spokeswoman, International Steel...

Supra Telecom wins right to add customers.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Chris Nolter Bankrupt phone service provider Supra Telecom said Monday, Nov. 25, that a Miami court has ordered BellSouth Corp. to stop preventing it from taking on new business or blocking customers from changing their service....

CPUC reorg plan for PG&E upheld.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Cheryl Meyer U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Dennis Montali on Nov. 25 turned down an attempt by utility PG&E to scuttle a rescue plan proposed by the California Public Utilities Commission, saying the CPUC did not violate California...

Qwest creditors may challenge debt swap.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Chris Nolter A group of 25 institutional bond fund managers were set to hire lawyers Monday and devise a response to a debt exchange offer from Qwest Communications International Inc. that could reduce the face value of their...

The CEO Shuffle: week ended Nov. 25.
November 26, 2002... Byline: David Ehrlich General J.H. Binford Peay III is leaving his chief executive post at Vienna, Va.-based Allied Research Corp., which produces conventional weapons and security systems, to take the superintendent job at Virginia...

Fiera Milano heads to market.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan Italy's Fiera Milano SpA will become the first trade-fair management and services company to be listed on the stock exchange, following an initial public offering and private placement scheduled for Dec....

Court to rule on WellChoice windfall.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Padraic Cassidy One of the stars of the initial public offering market, WellChoice Inc., ended its first day of trading up almost 9% from its underwriting price, a rare first-day gain for new issues this year. But a state...

XTO Energy acquires properties in Colorado.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Claire Poole Oil explorer XTO Energy Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas said Monday, Nov. 25 it agreed to buy coalbed methane gas producing properties in Colorado's San Juan Basin from J.M. Huber Corp. of Edison, N.J., for $160 million....

PE firms get Polish cable assets.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Elektrim Telekomunikacja, the telecommunications joint venture of Polish conglomerate Elektrim and French media giant Vivendi Universal SA, announced Monday, Nov. 25, the sale of its cable TV...

Canada rethinks bank mergers.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Laura King in Toronto The CEO of Canada's largest bank said Monday, Nov. 25, that the nation's financial institutions must consolidate to compete internationally or risk becoming "less globally relevant." Royal Bank of...

CoorsTek rejects $246M bid.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Olaf de Senerpont Domis in San Francisco CoorsTek Inc. on Monday, Nov. 25, rejected a $246 million buyout offer for the chip equipment component maker from a group of family trusts affiliated with brewing giant Adolph Coors Co....

Photogen set to buy Alliance Pharma unit.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Andrew Morse Photogen Technologies Inc. said Monday, Nov. 25, it had completed a term sheet for the purchase of Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp.'s medical imaging technology for an undisclosed amount. The deal includes...

Will BNP buy all of Lyonnais?
November 26, 2002... Byline: Renee Cordes in Brussels Shares of French bank Credit Lyonnais surged by more than 20% Monday after the government sold its remaining stake for more than expected, but there's little indication that the bank will soon be the...

AMI poised to grab Weider titles.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Richard Morgan David Pecker's American Media Inc. appeared to shake its "always a bridesmaid" status Monday, Nov. 25, by winning the highly contested auction for Weider Publications' seven fitness magazines with a bid north of...

Goldman denies report of 'spinning'.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Joshua Jaffe in London Goldman Sachs Group Inc. vigorously rejected the results of a three-month investigation conducted by The Sunday Times that concluded the firm distributed lucrative shares in initial public offerings in...

AK Capital group agrees on Hanbo deal.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul Korean financial group AK Capital has been tapped to lead a consortium that will pay $377 million for the nationalized Hanbo Iron and Steel Co. by year's end, a spokesman at state-run Korea Asset Management...

Dacom group nears PowerComm buy.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul A Dacom-led consortium said Monday, Nov. 25, it is a half-step from acquiring a controlling stake in Korea Electric Power Corp.'s cable telecom for an estimated W819 billion ($682 million). The South...

Oil-hungry MOL bolsters Polish position.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Patricia Koza in Warsaw Hungarian oil and gas company MOL Rt. agreed Monday, Nov. 25, to nearly double its stake in Slovak oil refinery Slovnaft AS to 67.8% in a $360 million cash and stock deal. MOL, which bought a 26.2%...

Schneider appeals ruling on Legrand.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Renee Cordes in Brussels French electrical equipment maker Schneider Electric SA said Monday it was appealing a court ruling that ordered it to withdraw a package of concessions aimed at winning European Union antitrust approval...

DealEstate -- Nov. 22, 2002.
November 26, 2002... Byline: compiled by Gerald C. Magpily Nov. 23, 2002 MetroPacific sells property to Ayala, Campos group Metro Pacific Corp., a unit of Hong Kong's First Pacific, said it sold two-thirds of its key property asset to a rival for...

Vivendi rejects deal for Cegetel.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Brian Cattell in London and Josh Kosman in New York Emboldened by the sale of half its 41% stake in Vivendi Environnement SA for [Euro]1.86 billion ($1.85 billion), debt-laden Vivendi Universal SA has rejected two separate...

AMR puts divestiture on hold.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Lou Whiteman in Atlanta American Airlines parent AMR Corp.'s plan to divest a part of its commuter network is on hold while the company negotiates the sale with its pilots union. Fort Worth-based AMR said earlier this month...

Indonesia's Salim family in realty deal.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong First Pacific Co. Ltd., the flagship listed company controlled by Indonesia's Salim family, said Monday, Nov. 25, it has agreed to sell for $90 million its stake in a premium real estate...

Lone Star reaches for Seiyu unit.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo The Japanese retailer Seiyu Ltd. said Monday, Nov. 25, that it had agreed to sell its financing subsidiary, Tokyo City Finance, to the private equity firm Lone Star Funds for an undisclosed price. The...

Blackstone eyes nursing homes.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Josh Kosman The Blackstone Group -- fresh from agreeing to buy TRW Inc.'s auto business in a $4.7 billion deal -- is studying the acquisition of Genesis Health Ventures Inc.'s nursing home care business, ElderCare, for about $900...

Benchmark loses key partner.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Joshua Jaffe in London Eric Archambeau, a general partner of Silicon Valley venture capital powerhouse Benchmark Capital's $500 million European fund, has left the firm to launch a new $15 million French seed fund. ...

PerformanceRetail turns to debt markets.
November 26, 2002... Byline: Tyson Freeman in San Francisco Faced with the often onerous financing terms available from venture capitalists, convenience store software vendor PerformanceRetail Inc. has turned instead to the debt markets, raising $5 million...

FastMobile.
November 23, 2002... Schaumburg, Ill.-based FastMobile secured $4 million in its first round of funding. The financing was led by Leo Capital Holdings, with participation from BlueStar Ventures and Red Barn Investments. FastMobile will use the funds to launch its...

Infiniti Solutions.
November 23, 2002... Singapore-based semiconductor firm Infiniti Solutions Pte Ltd. raised $36 million from 3i Group plc, EDB Investments, the investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, and management. The funding will support Infiniti's...

Inlet Medical.
November 23, 2002... Surgical product specialist Inlet Medical Inc. of Eden Prairie, Minn., has raised $1.5 million in a fifth round of funding led by Quatris Fund of Minneapolis. The company said that other prior and undisclosed investors in the company also...

Labs2 Group.
November 23, 2002... International venture capital fund Venture Partners Multimedia Fund III LP increased its stake in Swedish supplier of business-support systems for multimedia operators Labs2 Group AB, formerly ConNova Group AB, to 7.8% of its share capital...

NeoTherapeutics.
November 23, 2002... Cancer drug developer NeoTherapeutics Inc. of Irvine, Calif., announced Friday it had raised $938,000 through the sale of 469,000 shares of common stock to five investors including Luigi Lenaz, president of the company's oncology division....

Despite green, biotechs are blue.
November 23, 2002... Byline: Andrew Morse In the world of biotechnology, a dollar isn't always worth a dollar. Consider the value of the greenback in biotech's heartland, South San Francisco. There, Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc., a drug developer working...

PSC agrees to Littlejohn buyout.
November 23, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke Bar-code scanner maker PSC Inc. on Friday, Nov. 22, abandoned a two-year effort to restructure and said it was filing for bankruptcy as part of a plan that calls for Greenwich, Conn., buyout firm Littlejohn & Co....

Tokheim files Ch. 11 again.
November 23, 2002... Byline: Greg Johnson Tokheim Corp.'s next stay in bankruptcy isn't likely to be as swift as its first. The world's largest maker of gasoline pumps filed for Chapter 11 protection Thursday, Nov. 21, with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for...

Sleepmaster sale is approved.
November 23, 2002... Byline: Soma Biswas Sleepmaster LLC received approval for a disclosure statement that spells out a plan to sell the Serta mattress distributor's assets to National Bedding Co. Judge Mary Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the...

Devon Mobile sees court OK for asset sale.
November 23, 2002... Byline: Chris Nolter Lawyers for bankrupt wireless provider Devon Mobile Communications LP said that they expect court approval for a $3.2 million asset sale and an extra $7.2 million in DIP financing early in the week of Nov. 25. ...

Examiner appointed in Global Crossing case.
November 23, 2002... Byline: Chris Nolter A judge has approved a shareholder's request for an examiner in Global Crossing Ltd.'s bankruptcy case. Judge Robert Gerber in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, Nov. 20...

Sealed Air trial delayed a week.
November 23, 2002... Byline: Soma Biswas Sealed Air Corp. said its fraudulent conveyance trial has been pushed back a week to Dec. 9 from Dec. 2. Judge Alfred Wolin of the U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., issued an order late Thursday, Nov. 21, to...