The Daily Deal articles from November 2002

The Daily Deal archives from November 2002

Trapedza.
November 1, 2002... Dublin-based Trapedza Financial Systems has secured [Euro]2.1 million ($2.06 million) in first-round funding. The round was led by Bank of Scotland (Ireland), with Enterprise Ireland and the Dublin Seed Capital Fund also participating. The...

WebTone.
November 1, 2002... Atlanta-based WebTone Technologies Inc. has secured $20 million in funding from lead investor Technology Crossover Ventures. John Drew, a general partner at the Palo Alto, Calif., VC firm will also take a seat on the WebTone board. The round...

airBand.
November 1, 2002... Dallas-based airBand Communications Inc. has raised a $10 million round of financing led by original investors, Sevin Rosen Funds and Crescendo Ventures. Founded in February 2000, airBand has reached profitability and plans to use the funds for...

Bauer's Kirch bid may require sale.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin German publisher Heinrich Bauer Verlag GmbH will likely have to sell a minority holding in private broadcaster RTL II if it hopes to win regulatory approval for its [Euro]2 billion ($1.98 billion) bid for...

AT&T wins Velocita's fiber.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Chris Nolter With no other bidders in sight, AT&T Corp. is set to walk away with the assets of bankrupt telecom Velocita Corp. The long-distance giant offered $37 million in cash and stock for the the bulk of the company's...

Beliefnet rises from bankruptcy.
November 1, 2002... Byline: David Shabelman in San Francisco For companies emerging from bankruptcy, the metaphor of rising from the dead is a cliche. But it resonates with Beliefnet Inc., a Web site specializing in religion and spirituality that earlier this...

GFinancial files for Ch. 11.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Terry Brennan GFinancial LLC, one of New York's largest brokerage houses when it was known as Gruntal & Co., has been pushed into bankruptcy after losing two lawsuits. A decision by a New York Supreme Court judge to attach...

Hayes bondholders face setback.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Shanon D. Murray A dispute over Hayes Lemmerz International Inc.'s $30 million directors and officers' insurance policy has been put on ice for the time being. Judge Mary F. Walrath in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of...

Enron mulls utilities sale.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke With a reorganization plan still being developed, Enron Corp. lawyers said Thursday, Oct. 31, the bankrupt energy giant will decide in December whether to sell its utility assets -- a move analysts believe will...

Layoff roundup: week ended Oct. 31.
November 1, 2002... Byline: David Ehrlich Workers in the U.S. and abroad are fighting to keep their jobs, with United Airlines flight attendants negotiating a pay cut to avoid more layoffs and keep the airline solvent and Canada's Exfo Electro-Optical...

China Telecom's IPO stumbles.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong The offering billed as Asia's largest fund-raising exercise this year could turn out to be the region's biggest debacle. China Telecom Corp. Ltd., China's dominant fixed-line telephone operator,...

Parthus, Ceva poised to close deal.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Joshua Jaffe One of the largest information technology unions announced this year is due to be completed Friday. Dublin-based Parthus Technologies plc and Ceva Inc., the intellectual property licensing unit of Santa Clara,...

Korea banks fund $950M transport deal.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul The Korea Development Bank and Korea Exchange Bank agreed Thursday, Oct. 31, to lead a $650 million loan to a consortium led by Scandinavian shipping companies Wilhelmsen ASA and Wallenius Lines AB so it can...

Vivendi said to eye BT's share.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Brian Cattell in London France's Vivendi Universal SA needs to buy BT Group plc's stake in the telecom operator Cegetel to prevent Vodafone Group plc from taking control of Cegetel's prized mobile operator, a source close to the...

SAI deal hits another snag.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan A planned merger to create Italy's largest non-life insurer was already an uphill climb, given an assortment of regulatory inquiries into the union. But on Thursday, Oct. 31, a Rome court gave the deal...

Fiat sees asset sales by year's end.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan Italy's Fiat SpA said Thursday, Oct. 31, that it's on track to sell its Brazilian car operations and European auto financing unit by year's end. As expected, the industrial giant also said it would...

News Corp. hovers over DirecTV.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Lou Whiteman in Atlanta See related story, EchoStar hard-pressed to wage legal fight, for more on these companies. The U.S. government's decision to block the planned marriage between EchoStar Communications Corp. and Hughes...

BB&T-FloridaFirst tripped up.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Josh Karlen and David Weidner Winston-Salem, N.C.-based regional bank BB&T Corp. and FloridaFirst Bancorp. made a legal blunder in their planned merger: They failed to notify bank regulators first, as required by law. Now, the...

State regulators OK Atmos buy.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Claire Poole After months of negotiations, Dallas natural gas distributor Atmos Energy Corp. announced Thursday, Oct. 31, that the Mississippi Public Service Commission has approved its $195 million acquisition of Jackson, Miss.,...

Japanese fund targets troubled assets.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo Japanese private equity firm Phoenix Capital Co. said Thursday, Oct. 31, it launched a [yen]47.2 billion ($384.1 million) restructuring fund to buy nonperforming loans and invest in distressed companies. ...

Bain backs Celanese unit buyout.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Neal Sandler and Jonathan Braude Israel's Dor Chemicals Ltd. and Boston's Bain Capital Inc. have agreed to acquire Germany's Trespaphan Group from Celanese AG for [Euro]200 million ($196.9 million), both sides announced Thursday,...

Vivendi to sell Houghton for $1.7B.
November 1, 2002... Byline: David Carey and Josh Kosman France's Vivendi Universal SA said Thursday, Oct. 31, it clinched a preliminary agreement to sell its Houghton Mifflin Co. publishing unit to a consortium of private equity investors for about [Euro]1.75...

German biotech gets $11.8M.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Joshua Jaffe in London The German biotechnology company Pieris Proteolab AG said Thursday, Oct. 31, that it had closed a [Euro]12 million ($11.8 million) first round of funding led by Global Life Science Ventures, a Munich-based...

VCs fear Sarbanes-Oxley effects.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Ron Orol in Washington Remember when swashbuckling venture capitalists ruled the new-economy seas? They did business at the "speed of thought," launching a company into the public markets even as its business model was emerging...

Sage Telecom rings up $30M.
November 1, 2002... Byline: Clifford Carlsen After watching dozens of its telecommunications startup peers soar and then flame out, 6-year-old telephone carrier Sage Telecom Inc. is now ready to make its move. The Allen, Texas-based provider of local...

2PM.
November 1, 2002... Athlone, Ireland-based wireless technology company 2PM Technologies has secured [Euro]3.2 million ($3.17 million) in second-round funding from its lead investor, Dublin-based ICC Venture Capital. The company's valuation has also has increased...

Beliefnet.
November 1, 2002... Religion and spirituality Web site Beliefnet Inc. emerged from Chapter 11 with a fresh $1 million investment from Blue Chip Venture Co., one of its previous investors. Also participating in the round were Julius Genachowski, executive vice...

Horsley Bridge Partners.
November 1, 2002... San Francisco fund of funds Horsley Bridge Partners has reduced its seventh fund, which closed in 2001 with just less than $2.1 billion, by $500 million, in response to similar moves by some of its general partners. The fund, which primarily...

LipoSonix.
November 1, 2002... Seattle-based medical devices company LipoSonix has closed a $5.9 million round of venture capital funding. Investors in the financing included lead investor Versant Ventures, with participation from The Carlyle Group and Schroder Ventures Life...

Mediatrix Telecom.
November 1, 2002... Sherbrooke, Quebec-based Mediatrix Telecom Inc. has secured an additional C$4 million ($2.6 million) in a third round, bringing its total financing to C$12 million. The funding came from undisclosed return investors and its parent company,...

MerLion Pharmaceuticals.
November 1, 2002... Singapore-based MerLion Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd. has completed a $13.5 million first round from lead investor Aravis. Also participating were BioVeda, EDB BioMedical Sciences Investment Fund, JAFCO Asia Technology, Novartis BioVentures, Temasek...

Aberdeen looks to IPO for debt relief.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Nicola Hobday in London The United Kingdom's Aberdeen Asset Management plc, which is facing a regulatory investigation, said Friday, Nov. 1, it plans to float its real estate unit, Aberdeen Property Investors, and use the money to...

Martin Midstream IPO flounders.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Donna Block Although there have been a few recent successes in the initial public offering market, the debut Friday, Nov. 1, of Martin Midstream Partners LP got a chilly reception from investors. The IPO was priced at the low...

Newbridge-backed ISP sold.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo Japanese Internet systems specialist Livin' on the Edge Co. has snapped up for a modest [yen]120 million ($979,352) a failed Internet service provider that had attracted $60 million of investment from San...

Harvey Nichols MBO hits impasse.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Laura Board in London Hong Kong retail tycoon Dickson Poon's attempt to take upscale U.K. department store Harvey Nichols Group plc private foundered Friday when Poon refused to increase his pound sterling137.5 million ($214.9...

HSBC begins Bital tender.
November 2, 2002... Byline: John Nagel in Mexico City London-based HSBC Holding plc on Friday initiated its tender offer to buy 100% of Mexican banking group Grupo Financiero Bital in a cash transaction valued at up to $1.14 billion. The offer runs from...

Acquisition talk swirls around Level 3.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Chris Nolter Four months after receiving $500 million from an investor group including Warren Buffett to pursue acquisitions, Level 3 Communications Inc. is once again raising speculation that it is on the cusp of a deal following...

Sears to sell Advance Auto shares.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Ron Orol in Washington Advance Auto Parts Inc. said Friday, Nov. 1, that Sears, Roebuck and Co. is selling 8.4 million shares of the car accessories maker in a public offering. Based on Advanced Auto's closing stock price...

Golden Gate, Parallax to buy CA unit.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Kelly Holman and Cheryl Meyer San Francisco private equity firm Golden Gate Capital and Irvine, Calif.-based Parallax Capital Partners said Friday, Nov. 1, they agreed to acquire the banking software division of Islandia, N.Y.-based...

Interbrew moves deeper into China.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong The world's third-largest brewer, Interbrew SA, agreed Friday, Nov. 1, to acquire a 70% stake in the brewing operations of China's K.K. Group for $42 million in cash. The acquisition is part of...

Lone Star lassos Woori unit.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul Dallas-based buyout firm Lone Star Fund has agreed to pay about W400 billion ($327 million) in stock and debt to take over Hanvit Leasing & Finance, the leasing unit of South Korea's third-largest lender,...

Telewest and bankers near pact.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Brian Cattell in London British cable operator Telewest Communications plc said Friday, Nov. 1, it is close to securing the agreement of its lending banks for a pound sterling3.5 billion ($5.5 billion) debt-for-equity swap, but...

November M&A Calendar.
November 2, 2002... Byline: compiled by Gerald C. Magpily www.TheDeal.com

Deutsche Post leads Canadian buy.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin Continuing a buying spree outside its traditional mail business, Deutsche Post AG agreed Friday, Nov. 1, to buy the Canadian express delivery activities of Australian health giant Mayne Group Ltd. The...

Bank of China sets auction.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Bank of China, the mainland parent of Hong Kong-listed BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Limited, said Friday, Nov. 1, it plans to sell its stake in a hotel and a wireless firm. It values the property,...

Swallowing the pill: week ended Nov. 1.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Andrew Morse Last week, On the cheap took a look at B2B software companies in The Deal's proprietary "On the cheap" index with share prices trading 70% or more below their 52-week highs. Some of these companies are now...

Fortunes & Follies.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Robert Teitelman Move. Countermove. Eliot Spitzer holds the high ground of the press. But Sandy Weill still has maneuverability. Spitzer keeps the pressure on, whispering like the Oracle of Delphi through The Wall Street Journal....

NextMedia to buy 4 radio stations.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Kelly Holman Private equity-backed NextMedia Group Inc., a Denver media company, said Friday, Nov. 1, it has agreed to acquire four Michigan radio stations for $55.5 million from Atlanta-based Wilks Broadcasting LLC, another...

UBS sells hospital group.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Braude UBS AG sold its 91.5% stake in the Swiss private hospital group Hirslanden Holding AG to the London private equity house BC Partners for SFr930 million ($630 million), including assumed liabilities, the firms...

Cinven acquires Neoplastica.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Braude Looking to expand the reach of its German polyester and polypropylene film unit, U.K. private equity firm Cinven Ltd. on Friday, Nov. 1, announced the acquisition of Portugal's Neoplastica Group. Cinven did not...

What's Hot -- Nov. 1, 2002.
November 2, 2002... Byline: George White Venture capital dealflow continued its precipitous slide during the week ended Nov. 1, as total funds raised fell to a dismal $215.33 million -- 27% below the previous week's $296.28 million. As expected when so little...

VCs face bankruptcy battle.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Katherine Goncharoff Failed startups usually just quietly fade way. But several employees of one venture capital-backed company are fighting back. The financial backers of soft switch telecom startup Raviant Networks Inc., New...

Horsley Bridge scales back.
November 2, 2002... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio San Francisco's Horsley Bridge Partners, a fund-of-funds investor that primarily targets venture capital, has reduced its seventh fund by $500 million, a direct result of the downsizing trend among larger VC funds....

Red light special; Red light special.
November 4, 2002... Byline: Soma Biswas For 10 months, Kmart Corp. has been in the purgatory of bankruptcy. For 10 months, amid a landscape littered with retailers that went through bankruptcy once, twice, even three times, experts have been shaking their...

Lee group gets Houghton for $1.7B; Lee, Bain get Vivendi's Houghton for $1.7B.
November 4, 2002... Byline: David Carey and Josh Kosman After weeks of anticipation and speculation, debt-burdened Vivendi Universal SA Thursday, October 31 clinched a preliminary agreement to sell its Houghton Mifflin Co. publishing unit to a consortium of...

Morgan Group files to liquidate.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Soma Biswas Unable to continue trucking without liability insurance, Morgan Group Inc. has filed for bankruptcy. The Elkhart, Ind., heavy-duty hauler and its two subsidiaries, Morgan Drive Away Inc. and TDI Inc., disclosed in...

Morton Plastics preps for sale.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Terry Brennan Morton Custom Plastics LLC will be in court Tuesday, Nov. 5, seeking to lock in $2.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing from GE Capital Corp. Morton is also expected Tuesday to file a purchase agreement to...

National Airlines hears doubts.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Lou Whiteman Talk of creditors abandoning a financing package that was to end National Airlines Inc.'s two-year stay in bankruptcy court is giving rise to new whispers that the airline will eventually be forced to shut down. ...

No bombshells in WorldCom report.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Chris Nolter The U.S. Trustee's examiner in WorldCom Inc.'s bankruptcy case filed his first report Monday, Nov. 4, but don't look for any smoking gun. Monday's 122-page document broadly outlines WorldCom's demise and provides...

BigCity broadcasts radio station auction.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Peter Lauria New York-based broadcaster Big City Radio Inc. announced late Monday, Nov. 4, the retention of Jorgenson Broadcast Brokerage to auction off all 16 of the company's radio stations in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy...

GT Group telecom reviewing top 2 bids.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Chris Nolter Insolvent Canadian service provider GT Group Telecom Inc. announced Monday, Nov. 4, that it has received a number of buyout offers and is reviewing the two best bids. The leading bidders, who were not identified,...

The CEO shuffle: week ended Nov. 4.
November 5, 2002... Byline: David Ehrlich Another CEO caught in a fib will have to pay back his bonus from last year. Bryan Mitchell, who lied about having earned a college degree, will resign as chairman of MCG Capital Corp. but keep his job as chief...

China Telecom IPO on the ropes.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Donna Block China's largest fixed-line telephone operator, China Telecom Corp. Ltd., must decide by Tuesday how it will lure investors to the latest version of its initial public offering as it attempts to raise up to $3.7 billion....

Royal & Sun to make disposals.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Peter Moreira in London Embattled British insurer Royal & Sun Alliance Group plc this week will outline its second plan in a year to strengthen its capital levels - this time through a combination of disposals and business...

Cablevision sells Bravo for $1.25B.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Peter Lauria See GE taps water-systems maker for more GE deal news. Shares in Cablevision Systems Corp. climbed above $11 for only the second time since June 25 on news Monday, Nov. 4, that the Bethpage, N.Y.-based cabler...

Benetton bids $7.9B for Autostrade.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Andrew Morse in San Francisco A syndicate led by Italy's Benetton family, which runs the eponymous clothing retailer, will restructure Europe's biggest highway operator, Autostrade SpA, as a holding company if it succeeds in taking...

Orb mulls bid for U.K.'s Thistle.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Nicola Hobday in London Property company Orb Estates Ltd. said Monday, Nov. 4, that it's considering a takeover of Thistle Hotels plc but added it is not in formal discussions with the British hotel operator, which has a market cap...

DealEstate -- Nov. 5, 2002.
November 5, 2002... Byline: compiled by Gerald C. Magpily Nov. 4, 2002 Ayala Land seeks to sell $18.9M of paper Ayala Land, the Philippines' largest property developer, has sought regulatory approval to issue up to 1 billion pesos ($18.9 million)...

HSR Early Terms - Nov. 4, 2002.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Jaret Seiberg The Federal Trade Commission said Monday, Nov. 4, that the antitrust agencies does not have objections to a deal involving Stanley Works and Best Lock Corp. Also receiving early termination notices under the...

MobilCom's lifeline gets cut.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin Struggling German cellular reseller MobilCom AG is inching toward bankruptcy after the German government rejected a contract from majority shareholder Gerhard Schmid that would have led to a state bailout....

GE taps water systems maker.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Lou Whiteman For more dealmaking news from GE, see Cablevision sells Bravo for $1.25 billion. Moving to offer new products to its industrial power equipment customers, General Electric Co. announced plans Monday, Nov. 4, to buy...

Fortum near sale of oil assets.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Patricia Koza Finland's Fortum Oyj energy company may be close to a sale of its Norwegian oil exploration and production business, valued by analysts at more than $1 billion. Fortum announced May 3 that it was reviewing...

Osmond hungry for PizzaExpress.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Nicola Hobday in London Entrepreneur Hugh Osmond, who helped PizzaExpress plc come to the market in 1993, indicated Monday, Nov. 4, he may take the pizza parlor private with a potential offer of up to pound sterling251 million...

Primedia gives up American Baby.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Richard Morgan Primedia Inc.'s Tom Rogers won investors over Monday, Nov. 4, by fulfilling his asset-sale pledge -- and then some -- with an agreement to deliver the New York-based publisher's American Baby Group to Meredith Corp....

NIB looks at Deutsche's PE assets.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Braude Dutch private equity house NIB Private Capital NV is weighing a bid for parts of Deutsche Bank AG's private equity portfolio, sources said Monday, Nov. 4. The news drove Deutsche's share price up nearly 8% to...

Bain Capital buys Rhodia.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Braude and Kelly Holman French specialty chemicals manufacturer Rhodia SA agreed to sell its European basic chemicals operations to Boston-based private equity house Bain Capital Inc. Monday, Nov. 4, for an estimated...

Dearborn leads in Sterling auction.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Josh Kosman Weeks after buying Jefferson Smurfit Group plc for [Euro]3.7 billion ($3.7 billion), Chicago buyout firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC is poised to win another pulp and paper-related business. Madison Dearborn is...

VC firm Interfase sues Baker Botts.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Claire Poole Austin, Texas, venture capital firm Interfase Capital Partners LLP sued its law firm, Baker Botts LLP, claiming it should pay its investors if they win several lawsuits filed against it. Interfase filed the suit...

Bezos backs encryption startup.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Tyson Freeman in San Francisco Quantum mechanics posits that in subatomic physics it's the observer who determines whether the internal bits of atoms are either waves or particles. The founder of MagiQ Technologies Inc., former...

Novacea nets $36M.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Clifford Carlsen After just a year's worth of development, biotech developer Novacea Inc. of South San Francisco, Calif., has raised $36 million in second-round funding based on a compound it hopes can work with existing drugs to...

Animal drug startup scores.
November 5, 2002... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio Smart Drug Systems Inc., a developer of long-term delivery mechanisms for veterinary pharmaceutical products, is one of the few animal health companies in which investors have found nuggets of promising technical...

CreekPath.
November 6, 2002... Longmont, Colo.-based CreekPath Systems Inc., a developer of automated storage management systems for midsize and large enterprises, has raised more than $16 million in a second round led by New Enterprise Associates of Menlo Park, Calif. Other...

DispenseSource.
November 6, 2002... Automated inventory systems developer DispenseSource Inc. of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., has completed a $6.25 million second round of financing led by InnoCal Venture Capital with participation from Mission Ventures, Forrest, Binkley &...

Echopass.
November 6, 2002... Contact center application service provider Echopass Corp. of Salt Lake City has raised $8 million in a third round of financing from Outlook Ventures, which led the round, as well as from previous investors Canaan Partners and New Enterprise...