Author: Serkadis

Tower Cloud Inc., a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based provider of backhaul services to wireless carriers, has raised $20 million in new VC funding. Return backers El Dorado Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures were joined by a new investor group led by telecom entrepreneur Cam Lanier.

PRESS RELEASE

Tower Cloud, Inc., a provider of backhaul services to wireless carriers, announced today it closed a $20 million equity round to fund expansion into Atlanta, GA and other growth opportunities. The round included funding from the company’s current investors, including Sutter Hill Ventures and El Dorado Ventures, and from a new investor group led by Cam Lanier, a very successful telecom entrepreneur and investor. The new investor group includes Ballast Point Ventures, Kinetic Ventures, Knology, Inc., ITC Partners Fund, Noro-Moseley Partners, and The Burton Partnership.

“Wireless backhaul is one of the fastest growing areas in telecom. We are very excited to be in business with Tower Cloud and feel the company is strongly positioned to serve the exploding bandwidth needs of wireless carriers.” said Cam Lanier, Chairman of ITC Holding Company, LLC. Demand for wireless broadband service on cellular networks is expanding rapidly, driven by growing popularity of cellular smartphones and other advanced mobile wireless devices. As wireless carriers upgrade their cellular networks to provide 4G wireless data and Internet services their need for broadband backhaul service will continue to accelerate.

“We are very pleased to have the new group of equity partners join our existing investors to form a very strong syndicate”, said Ron Mudry, CEO of Tower Cloud. “Given the challenging economy and financial markets, it is a strong vote of confidence in our company and business model to attract such a high quality group of investors.”

About Tower Cloud Tower Cloud provides telecom backhaul services to wireless carriers. The company builds and operates fiber optic and wireless networks to connect cellular towers to the wireless carriers’ mobile switching centers. Wireless carriers utilize Ethernet and Sonet T-1 broadband capacity provided by Tower Cloud to manage the exploding volume of voice and data traffic on their cellular networks. Tower Cloud currently operates backhaul networks in the greater Orlando, FL and Miami, FL markets and is in the process of constructing a new network in Atlanta, GA. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL.

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Colony Capital and Colony Financial (NYSE: CLNY) have originated a $206 million maximum principal senior secured term loan facility to William Lyon Homes.

PRESS RELEASE

Investment vehicles managed by Colony Capital, LLC, and Colony Financial, Inc. (NYSE: CLNY) (“Colony Financial”), a newly formed real estate finance company focused on acquiring, originating and managing commercial mortgage loans, today announced the origination of a $206 million maximum principal senior secured term loan facility to William Lyon Homes. Colony Financial will fund $50 million of this loan facility alongside $156 million to be funded by the other participating investment funds managed by Colony Capital.

Colony Capital and Colony Financial were selected to provide this first lien mortgage financing based on their extensive experience in real estate financing, competitive terms, timing, certainty of funding and the ability to negotiate and close the transaction in a short period.

“With more than 50 years of experience in the homebuilding industry, William Lyon Homes has built an envious operating record through multiple housing cycles,” said Thomas J. Barrack Jr., founder, chairman and CEO of Colony Capital. “We believe in the long-term fundamentals of the industry and are encouraged by the recent improvement in housing fundamentals. General Lyon has built a superb company and a best-in-class management team, which is well-positioned to take advantage of extremely attractive opportunities the industry has not seen for several decades.”

General William Lyon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of William Lyon Homes, stated, “We are extremely pleased to announce the completion of our senior secured term loan facility with Colony Capital. Colony’s excellent reputation and long history of success in real estate financing make them the ideal partner, and this transaction has laid a foundation for a strong relationship.”

Bill H. Lyon, President and Chief Operating Officer of William Lyon Homes, added, “The liquidity provided by this facility provides William Lyon Homes with the resources and flexibility to capitalize on opportunities in the marketplace and to continue with our strategic initiatives.”

William Lyon Homes intends to use the proceeds from this facility to enhance liquidity, repurchase debt and restructure its balance sheet, as well as for opportunistic land acquisitions and general corporate purposes.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to execute such a significant high-yielding, quality investment just three weeks after our initial public offering,” said Richard Saltzman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Colony Financial. “This first major investment is a testament to the relationships we enjoy in the commercial real estate marketplace and is viewed as a prototype for future transactions within the REIT. The attractive yield profile, high cash pay feature and first-lien security within the capital structure are what make this transaction attractive to Colony Financial. We are being selective in our asset allocation, focused on building the optimal portfolio for the long term.”

About William Lyon Homes

William Lyon Homes is primarily engaged in the design, construction and sale of new single-family detached and attached homes in California, Arizona and Nevada. Its corporate headquarters is located in Newport Beach, California. For more information about William Lyon Homes and its new home developments, please visit its website at www.lyonhomes.com.

About Colony Capital, LLC

Founded in 1991 by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., Colony Capital is a private, international investment firm focusing primarily on debt and equity investments in real estate-related assets and operating companies. The firm has invested more than $39 billion in over 8,800 assets through various corporate, portfolio and complex property transactions. Colony has a staff of more than 200 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in New York, Boston, Hawaii, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Beirut, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei. For more information, visit www.colonyinc.com.

About Colony Financial, Inc.

Colony Financial is a newly formed real estate finance company that will focus primarily on acquiring, originating and managing commercial mortgage loans, which may be performing, sub-performing or non-performing loans (including loan-to-own strategies), other commercial real estate-related debt investments, CMBS, REO properties and other real estate-related assets. Colony Financial intends to elect and qualify to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. For more information, visit www.colonyfinancial.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” or “potential” or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases which are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and contingencies, many of which are beyond Colony Financial’s or William Lyon Homes’ control, that may cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.

Colony Financial’s statements regarding the following subjects, among others, may be forward-looking: use of proceeds of the offering; business and investment strategy; projected operating results; actions and initiatives of the U.S. Government, including the establishment of the TALF and the PPIP, and changes to U.S. Government policies and the execution and impact of these actions, initiatives and policies; the ability to obtain financing arrangements; financing and advance rates for Colony Financial’s target assets; expected leverage; general volatility of the securities markets in which Colony Financial invests; expected investments; expected co-investment allocations and related requirements; interest rate mismatches between Colony Financial’s target assets and its borrowings used to fund such investments; changes in interest rates and the market value of Colony Financial’s target assets; changes in prepayment rates on Colony Financial’s target assets; effects of hedging instruments on Colony Financial’s target assets; rates of default or decreased recovery rates on Colony Financial’s target assets; the degree to which hedging strategies may or may not protect Colony Financial from interest rate volatility; impact of changes in governmental regulations, tax law and rates, and similar matters; Colony Financial’s ability to maintain its qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes; Colony Financial’s ability to maintain its exemption from registration under the 1940 Act; availability of investment opportunities in mortgage-related and real estate-related investments and other securities; availability of qualified personnel; estimates relating to Colony Financial’s ability to make distributions to its stockholders in the future; Colony Financial’s understanding of its competition; and market trends in Colony Financial’s industry, interest rates, real estate values, the debt securities markets or the general economy.

For a further discussion of these and other factors that could cause Colony Financial’s future results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Colony Financial’s final prospectus relating to this offering, and other risks described in documents subsequently filed by Colony Financial from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The principal factors that could cause William Lyon Homes’ actual performance and future events and actions to differ materially from forward-looking statements included herein, include, but are not limited to, persisting weakness or worsening in general economic conditions either nationally or in regions in which William Lyon Homes operates, persisting weakness or worsening in the markets for residential housing, further decline in real estate values resulting in further impairment of the company’s real estate assets, volatility in the banking industry and credit markets, terrorism or other hostilities involving the United States, whether an ownership change occurred which could, under certain circumstances, have resulted in the limitation of William Lyon Homes’ ability to offset prior years’ taxable income with net operating losses, changes in home mortgage interest rates, changes in generally accepted accounting principles or interpretations of those principles, change in government legislation and/or rules under the tax code which could affect the results of operations, changes in prices of homebuilding materials, labor shortages, adverse weather conditions, the occurrence of events such as landslides, soil subsidence and earthquakes that are uninsurable, not economically insurable or not subject to effective indemnification agreements, changes in governmental laws and regulations, whether William Lyon Homes is able to refinance the outstanding balances of its debt obligations at their maturity, the time of receipt of regulatory approvals and the opening of projects and the availability and cost of land for future growth. For a further discussion of these and other factors that could cause William Lyon Homes’ future results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements, see Item 1A, “Risk Factors” contained in William Lyon Homes’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008.

All forward-looking statements regarding each party reflect such party’s good faith beliefs, assumptions and expectations, but they are not guarantees of future performance. Furthermore, both Colony Financial and William Lyon Homes disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors, of new information, data or methods, future events or other changes.

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RedSeal Systems Inc., a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of security posture management software, has raised $12 million. OVP Venture Partners led the round, and was joined by return backers Venrock, Jafco Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures and Leapfrog Ventures. The company has now raised more than $43 million in total VC funding.

PRESS RELEASE

RedSeal Systems, Inc. (www.redseal.net), the leading vendor of security posture management software, today announced that the security industry’s foremost venture capital firms have backed RedSeal with a $12 million investment. In addition, security executive Mark Ashida, managing director at OVP Venture Partners and former general manager of enterprise networking and authentication for Microsoft, has joined RedSeal’s board of directors. These moves represent a strong endorsement of RedSeal’s innovative solutions by the security financial community.

RedSeal develops software that automatically, comprehensively and continuously assesses the cybersecurity posture of an organization, identifying weaknesses before they can be exploited. The vast majority of data breaches experienced today, including those at Heartland Systems and TJX, are caused by relatively simple configuration errors that lurk unnoticed within an organization’s IT infrastructure until they are discovered by a hacker. These attacks can be stopped if the oversights are discovered in time, but today’s security infrastructures are far too complex and rapidly changing for manual reviews to be effective. RedSeal pinpoints configuration oversights and vulnerabilities that create risk, ensuring that the organization’s existing investment in firewalls, routers, patch management and security personnel is effectively protecting critical information assets.

“RedSeal addresses perhaps the most fundamental security issue facing corporations and government agencies today,” said Mark Ashida. “Cyber defenses are enormously intricate, and the smallest hole could allow a hacker to defeat them. Using RedSeal, CISOs, CIOs and CEOs can be confident that they are protecting their organizations from the nearly constant cyber attacks occurring today.”

The security industry’s leading venture capital firms funded the $12 million investment in RedSeal. The round was led by OVP Venture Partners, the most experienced venture capital firm in the Northwest. OVP’s prior security investments include Foundstone (acquired by McAfee), Watchguard Technologies and Avenda Systems. OVP was joined by existing investors Venrock, Jafco Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures and Leapfrog Ventures. The total investment by these firms in RedSeal’s advanced technology now exceeds $43 million.

Mark Ashida brings deep expertise in the IT security market to RedSeal’s board of directors. Until 2007, he led Microsoft’s $450 million networking infrastructure and authentication business. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Intertrust, the leader in secure distribution technology for digital goods. Before joining Intertrust, Mark was a General Manager at Intel Architecture Labs.

“Protecting critical business assets from hackers is complex—not impossible,” said Tom Arthur, CEO of RedSeal Systems. “With RedSeal, businesses can dramatically improve their security without spending an additional dime on security devices. We’re pleased that security leaders of the caliber of OVP and Mark Ashida have recognized the power and importance of this solution.”

About RedSeal Systems, Inc.
RedSeal Systems develops security posture management software that enables organizations to assess and strengthen their cyber-defenses. Unlike systems that detect attacks once they occur, RedSeal identifies holes in the security infrastructure that could be exploited—before they are discovered by hackers. RedSeal software analyzes and simplifies the complex interaction of firewalls, routers, load balancers and hosts, delivering in-depth understanding of overall security posture, continuous compliance with regulations such as PCI, FISMA, and SOX, and actionable steps for risk remediation. For more information, visit RedSeal at www.redseal.net.

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Aurora Capital Group has completed its purchase of Porex from HLTH Corp. (Nasdaq: HLTH). The deal was valued at $142 million, including $74.5 million in cash payable at closing and $67.5 million in senior secured debt. Porex makes porous plastic products and components used in healthcare, industrial and consumer applications.

PRESS RELEASE

Aurora Capital Group (”Aurora”), a Los Angeles-based private equity firm with over $2.0 billion of assets under management, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Porex Corporation (”Porex” or the “Company”), formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of HLTH Corporation (Nasdaq: HLTH), for $142 million in cash and senior secured debt.

Gerald L. Parsky, Chairman of Aurora Capital Group, said, “We look forward to working with Porex’s management team and talented employees to build upon the Company’s past achievements. Aurora is committed to helping Porex expand its strong market position in porous plastics and further enhance its materials science expertise in support of its global customer base.”

John T. Mapes, Managing Partner of Aurora Capital Group, added, “We are pleased with the successful completion of our acquisition of Porex. Importantly, this transaction, which follows our acquisition of RecoverCare and MedaSTAT, marks Aurora’s second platform acquisition to close since the summer. Our investment discipline during the surge in private equity transactions of recent years has allowed us to capitalize on attractive opportunities today. Aurora’s increased acquisition pace is a testament to our enthusiasm about the current investing environment.”

As previously announced, in August 2009 Aurora completed the purchase and merger-of-equals transaction to combine RecoverCare, LLC, and MedaSTAT USA, LLC, to create a leading provider of wound care and bariatric treatment solutions for acute and post-acute care markets.

Additionally, Aurora portfolio companies have executed six portfolio company tuck-in acquisitions in 2009, with two transactions completed by each of Anthony International, a leader in the U.S. commercial refrigeration industry and the world’s largest manufacturer of specialty glass, Mitchell International, a leading provider of information services and technology solutions designed to automate and optimize the automobile insurance claims and workers’ compensation claims processes, and NuCO2 Incorporated, the nation’s largest and sole national provider of bulk CO2 equipment rental and refill solutions.

ABOUT AURORA CAPITAL GROUP

Aurora is a Los Angeles-based private equity firm managing over $2.0 billion that utilizes two distinct investment strategies. Aurora Equity focuses principally on control-investments in middle-market industrial, manufacturing and selected service oriented businesses, each with a leading position in sustainable niches, a strong cash flow profile, and actionable opportunities for both operational and strategic enhancement. Aurora Resurgence invests in debt and equity securities of middle-market companies and targets complex situations that are created by operational or financial challenges either within a company or a broader industry. For more information about Aurora Capital Group, visit www.auroracap.com or www.aurorares.com.

ABOUT POREX CORPORATION

Founded in 1961 and based in Fairburn, GA, Porex is the leading global developer, manufacturer and distributor of porous plastic products. The Company primarily serves the healthcare and surgical end markets, and also supports high-performance applications in the consumer and industrial sectors. Porex products serve filtration, venting, wicking, and diffusing functions in applications such as blood filters, catheter vents, fuel filters, writing instrument tips and consumable diagnostic tests. In addition, through its MEDPOR brand, Porex’s surgical products are the first FDA-cleared porous plastic implants for use in craniofacial and orbital reconstructive surgery. Porex, which pioneered porous plastic technology over 40 years ago, is today widely recognized for its materials science expertise and proprietary designs which serve over 1,250 customers across more than 75 countries via operations in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information about Porex Corporation, visit www.porex.com.

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Hanley Truck Line LLC, a provider of truckload transportation in the Pacific Northwest, has acquired the operating assets of Washington-based Puget Sound Truck Lines Inc. and Oregon-based Nickel Plate Express Inc. No pricing terms were disclosed for the acquisition, which was financed by Hanley Truck management and existing equity sponsor Evergreen Pacific Partners.

PRESS RELEASE

Haney Truck Line, LLC (Haney), a leading provider of truckload transportation in the Pacific Northwest, today announced the purchase of the operating assets of Washington-based Puget Sound Truck Lines, Inc. (PSTL) and Oregon-based Nickel Plate Express, Inc. (NPE). The combined entities, which will operate under the Haney brand, create one of the largest West Coast truckload transportation fleets. The transaction was facilitated by Haney’s senior management team as well as through its equity partner, Seattle-based Evergreen Pacific Partners, which manages $700 million of equity and invests in private, traditional industry, middle-market companies in Western North America.

In addition to the operating assets, Haney Truck Line will assume leased property in Eugene and Portland, Ore., Commerce and Woodland, Calif., and in Everett, Bellingham and Tacoma, Wash., adding to the five terminals and various other parking yards Haney already maintains throughout the Northwest.

“This transaction will allow us to better serve existing customers, offer compelling expanded service offerings to new customers, and provide greater capacity to the broader West Coast truckload market,” said Mike Richardson, president of Haney Truck Line.

With 165 tractors and 466 trailers, and 65 contractors PSTL and NPE are among the oldest and most recognized truckload carriers in the Pacific Northwest and California. With more than 500 employees, 400 tractors and 1,000 trailers, Haney is one of the largest truckload carriers in the greater Pacific Northwest.

The companies carry products including beverages, paper, glass, aluminum, food and other general commodities throughout eight Western states. They offer a variety of services, including common and contract carriage, dedicated resources, logistics services and single source transportation programs utilizing 53’ dry vans, 53’ heavy-haul vans, and flatbeds. Haney will add inter-modal services to its service portfolio as a result of the transaction. The companies all maintain among the finest safety records in the trucking industry.

This is the eighth transaction for Evergreen Pacific Partners and the fourth in the state of Washington. Collectively, there are more than 2,000 employees working for the Washington state companies in which Evergreen Pacific Partners has invested. The company focuses on traditional buyouts, management led buyouts and growth equity investments in middle-market companies operating in traditional industries.

“This transaction fits the strategic opportunity we saw to grow Haney’s market share in the West,” said T. J. McGill, co-founding partner of Evergreen. “Haney operates one of the largest, and most respected, fleets in the region and we look forward to continuing to help them grow.”

About Haney Truck Line

Haney Truck Line, LLC provides customized, mission critical truckload transportation solutions to quality driven customers shipping in and between Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada as well as British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. Providing a complimentary palette of services, Haney leverages extensive experience, integrated technological systems, and a honed proprietary approach to deliver industry leading performance. More information is available on the web at www.gohaney.com.

About Evergreen Pacific Partners

Based in Seattle, Wash., Evergreen Pacific Partners (www.eppcapital.com) currently manages two private equity funds totaling $700 million, with a focus on investing in traditional, middle-market companies in Western North America. Evergreen Pacific was co-founded by Timothy Bernardez, T. J. McGill, and Michael Nibarger. Evergreen Pacific’s acquisitions and investments include Western Broadband (Phoenix, Ariz.), Finest City Broadcasting (San Diego, Calif.), Gene Juarez Salons & Spas (Seattle, Wash.), Haney Truck Line (Yakima, Wash.), Nuprecon (Snoqualmie, Wash.) and CST Environmental (Brea, Calif.).

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US Liner Co., a Cranberry Township, Penn.-based maker of thermoplastic composite solutions, has received a minority equity investment from Sverica International. No financial terms were disclosed.

PRESS RELEASE

Sverica International has acquired a minority stake in US Liner Company (“USLCO”), a Division of American Made, LLC. USLCO is an innovative, industry leading manufacturer of thermoplastic composite solutions for a broad range of applications. Primary industries served include the truck trailer, rail transport, intermodal shipping container and recreational vehicle (RV) markets.

USLCO proprietary manufacturing process combines continuous glass fibers with tough, corrosion- and moisture-resistant polypropylene, in multilayer laminated structures creating a new class of versatile sheet thermoplastic composite materials.

Starting in late 1990s with Bulitex® and today with its next generation thermoplastic Versitex®, USLCO has changed the way industries have used traditional materials such as wood, steel, aluminum and FRP by providing better physical and mechanical properties at an attractive price point.

David Finley, Managing Director at Sverica International, commented: “We at Sverica are very excited about the relationship with US Liner. Mike LaRocco has built a great company and we are confident that together we can capture the tremendous opportunity represented by US Liner’s Versitex product. US Liner has established strong positions in key transportation markets that will continue to benefit as the economy recovers. By fully exploiting those current markets and selectively expanding into new ones where the Versitex value proposition is highly compelling, US Liner has a bright future in front of it.”

Mike LaRocco, Founder/CEO of US Liner, added “We’re not only surviving through very difficult global economic conditions, but are actually growing market share because we simply developed a better mousetrap. With Sverica behind us, we now can continue to serve and grow our existing customer base, but also expand our reach to new, untapped industries that will benefit from Versitex. USLCO is stronger and poised to deliver excellence in every facet of our business.”

About US Liner Company

Headquartered near Pittsburgh, in Cranberry Township, PA, U.S. Liner Company is a division of American Made, LLC, which was founded by Michael LaRocco in 1983. Since 1998, the company has been a leading supplier of composite materials that are widely used in the truck/trailer market and supports an ever-widening range of applications in the automotive, RV, refrigerated rail, intermodal transportation, building products, and military markets. For more information, please visit www.uslco.com

About Sverica International

Sverica International is a leading private equity firm with over $425 million of assets under management across three funds. The firm acquires, invests in and actively builds companies that are or could become leaders in their industries. Since 1993, Sverica has maintained a “high touch” operating philosophy of taking an active role in portfolio companies. Sverica devotes significant internal resources to help its management teams develop and execute growth strategies. For more information, please visit www.sverica.com

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TEAK Midstream LLC, a Dallas, Texas-based midstream energy startup, has raised $100 million in private equity funding from Natural Gas Partners. TEAK was launched by Crosstex Energy co-founders Chris Aulds and James Wales.

PRESS RELEASE

TEAK Midstream, LLC today announced that it has secured a $100 million private equity investment from Natural Gas Partners (NGP), a leading energy private equity firm based in Irving, Texas. TEAK, a Dallas-based midstream start-up, will use the private equity investment to acquire and develop midstream assets in key gas producing areas of the United States.

TEAK Midstream is led by A. Chris Aulds and James R. Wales. Together, Aulds and Wales have more than 55 years of oil and gas industry experience and proven expertise launching and growing start-up midstream companies. Prior to starting TEAK, they were two of the original three founders of Crosstex Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ symbol: XTXI) where they were instrumental in growing the company from a $4 million start-up in 1996 to a $3 billion publicly traded company at the time of their departure in 2007.

“TEAK’s solid financial backing from Natural Gas Partners combined with our experience starting and growing midstream companies provides a unique blend of business acumen and access to capital,” says TEAK Co-Chief Executive James R. Wales.

Through strategic acquisitions and greenfield projects, TEAK will provide midstream services including gathering, transmission, treating, processing, compression, marketing and price risk management. The company will initially focus on gas production areas in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi with anticipated geographic expansion based on customer needs.

“Jim and I look forward to working with industry colleagues again,” says TEAK Co-Chief Executive A. Chris Aulds. “The timing is right for a new customer service oriented midstream company with proven experience acquiring and developing midstream assets to support our customer’s growth plans. The capital investment from our private equity partner will assist in our ability to meet customer needs.”

About A. Chris Aulds

Prior to founding TEAK Midstream, Aulds was a senior executive and founding partner at Crosstex Energy Services. While at Crosstex, he managed several divisions of the company including the Producer Services Group, Treating Division and Crosstex’ Eastern Division which included transmission, gathering and processing in East Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and eastern Oklahoma. Prior to starting Crosstex, Aulds was Vice President of gas supply and marketing for Comstock Natural Gas; Vice President in charge of gas supply, marketing, new business development and risk management services at Victoria Gas Corporation; and held field engineering and natural gas marketing roles at Mobil Oil Corporation. Aulds has a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas Tech University.

About James R. Wales

Prior to founding TEAK Midstream, Wales was a senior executive and founding partner at Crosstex Energy Services. While at Crosstex, he led the business development group; managed the company’s Southern Division including transmission, gathering and processing in South and North Texas; and served as head of the Commercial Division. Prior to starting Crosstex, Wales was one of the founders of Sunrise Energy Services, Inc. He helped build Sunrise from a start-up to one of the largest publicly traded independent natural gas marketing companies in the United States. Prior to starting Sunrise, Wales held positions with Producers Gas Company, a subsidiary of Lear Petroleum; Triumph Natural Gas, Inc.; and Union Carbide. He is a former Chairman of the National Energy Services Association. He has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Law Degree from the South Texas College of Law.

About TEAK Midstream

TEAK Midstream LLC provides gathering, transmission, treating, processing, compression, marketing and price risk management services in key gas producing areas of the United States. For more information on TEAK Midstream, visit www.teakmidstream.com

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Kai-Ching Lin has joined Houlihan Lokey as a managing director, focused on the valuation of complex securities. Lin previously was a managing director in the financial engineering practice of Duff & Phelps.

PRESS RELEASE

Houlihan Lokey, an international investment bank, announced today that Dr. Kai-Ching Lin, Ph.D. has joined the firm’s New York office as a Managing Director, specializing in the valuation of complex securities including structured products and derivatives. Prior to joining the firm, Dr. Lin was a managing director in the Financial Engineering practice of Duff & Phelps, LLC. Earlier, he was the global head of quantitative methodology in the valuation risk group at Credit Suisse, where he was responsible for developing valuation risk methodology for the trading of derivatives tied to products such as: equities, interest rates, credit, mortgages, commodities and life insurance.

Commenting on the hire, Michael A. Fazio, Managing Director and Global Head of Portfolio Valuation & Advisory Services, said, “We are excited that Dr. Lin has chosen to join Houlihan Lokey’s platform, and even more excited to be able to offer his expertise to our clients. Dr. Lin has more than 12 years of experience in financial consulting in addition to his academic tenure and deep experience valuing the complex securities currently held by many financial institutions. We look forward to having Dr. Lin as part of our team.”

Dr. Lin added, “Houlihan Lokey has established itself as an authority in the valuation of complex securities and derivatives on behalf of hedge funds, other financial institutions and even government entities. As institutions continue to struggle with the valuation of these instruments, particularly in light of evolving standards for mark-to-market accounting, Houlihan Lokey is well-positioned to help clients face these challenges. I am delighted to join the firm.”

Dr. Lin received his B.S. from National Taiwan University and a Ph.D. in mathematics from UCLA. He taught and conducted research at various academic institutions, including the University of Chicago, the University of Wisconsin, UCLA, the Mathematical Science Research Institute and the University of Alabama. He was also Associate Editor of Financial Analysts Journal (FAJ), a publication for Chartered Financial Analysts.

Houlihan Lokey’s Portfolio Valuation & Advisory Services provide hedge funds, private equity firms, other investment managers and financial institutions with independent third-party valuation and advisory services for their illiquid assets. The firm values a broad range of securities and instruments including: illiquid debt and equity securities, mortgage-backed securities (MBS), collateralized debt obligations (CDO), collateralized loan obligations (CLO) and complex derivative instruments. The firm’s expertise in the valuation of complex securities and instruments has been particularly relevant in its advisory roles to creditors of both Lehman Brothers Holdings and CIT Group. In June 2009, the firm was appointed to a new expert group formed by the International Valuation Standards Committee (IVSC) on the valuation of financial assets and liabilities.

About Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey, an international investment bank, provides a wide range of advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, financing, financial restructuring, and valuation. The firm was ranked the No. 1 M&A advisor for U.S. transactions under $2 billion in 2008 and the No. 1 U.S. fairness opinion advisor over the past 10 years by Thomson Reuters. In addition, the firm advised on more than 500 restructuring transactions valued in excess of $1.25 trillion over the past 10 years. Notable engagements cover numerous sectors and virtually all of the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcies, including Lehman Brothers, General Motors, WorldCom and Enron. The firm has more than 800 employees in 14 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Each year we serve more than 1,000 clients ranging from closely held companies to Global 500 corporations.

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The Prime Minister has written a letter to Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness outlining his proposals for a financial settlement on Northern Ireland policing and justice.

Gordon Brown said the proposals are designed to make it possible to complete the final stage of devolution in Northern Ireland.

• Read the PM’s letter

Mr Brown said he believed the settlement outlined in the letter was a “good settlement” which would “meet the needs of a devolved Justice Department”.

In the letter he said:

“Together we have, I believe, achieved an outcome in which we each have confidence and which will ensure that when policing and justice powers are transferred, the Northern Ireland Justice Department will have a secure financial foundation which we all recognise is important in ensuring confidence in the policing and justice services across the community.”

The PM said in the letter that his discussions with Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness had been “careful, detailed and considered”.

“I believe that this is a very strong settlement which will ensure that all the people of Northern Ireland continue to have high quality policing and justice services.”

There are all sorts of “lessons” that you hear concerning entrepreneurship, but the one that has always struck me as being the most reasonable and valuable is:

Be adaptable

People who haven’t built a company think that it’s “the plan” or “the idea” that matters. That’s almost never the case. Look at nearly every successful startup, and their business has little (if anything) to do with their initial plan. Google was going to sell search appliances as the core of its business. YouTube was supposed to be a dating service. Things change — and the only thing that matters is how well your company adapts and executes. That’s why it’s silly to be too protective of a plan or idea or to focus on things like patents or NDAs. Most of that doesn’t matter. Separately, projecting out more than a year may be a fun exercise, but is generally meaningless.

Clay Shirky had a great Twitter message this past weekend that puts that point into perspective nicely:

Why I ignore all “5 year plans”: 5 years ago, YouTube and Twitter didn’t exist, and Facebook was only for college kids

If you go back and look at plans or predictions from 2005, of where web content would be in 2010, it’s unlikely that “micromessaging” like Twitter or online video like YouTube was considered quite as central. Certainly some folks thought video was on the cusp back then, but they expected it to come from professional offerings like BrightCove, rather than a user-generated setup like YouTube. It’s always difficult to predict which innovation is actually going to hit — and plenty of companies, especially in the media space, have had to change and adjust their strategies due to things like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook — just like how a decade ago, companies quickly started adjusting their strategy to deal with Google. Five years from now, plenty of startups will be adjusting their strategy for some other service as well… And the only way you can do that is by being adaptable.

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Several important updates are provided below on the Vermont Standard Offer program.

On October 16th, the PSB issued an Order resolving numerous questions pertaining to how the Standard Offer program will be implemented. One of the key issues ruled upon covers how the SPEED Facilitator is to handle it if applications for projects exceed the limits by energy source provided in the PSB’s September 30th Order. The PSB ruled that a lottery system would be used to select projects that submit a timely application.

The queue opened for applications on October 19th. Yesterday, the SPEED Facilitator filed a report on the first day of the program. The totals appear at the top of this post and are contained in a story on VPR.

Solar and biomass project applications exceed their allocations of the 50 MW available under the Standard Offer program, and a lottery to select projects will occur at the PSB on Thursday (10/22) at 10am. You must request permission from the PSB to observe the lottery.

In the VPR story, Representative Tony Klein, who sponsored the legislation creating the program, reacted to the first day’s results by stating: “This is what the economy desperately needs at this moment. What’s so exciting to me as a legislator is to see and realize that in May we create this legislation and here we are in the middle of October we almost have boots on the ground ready to get this technology deployed.”

We agree with Representative Klein that Monday’s results are a good signal, but would offer that the real measure of success of the program should be based on projects actually built and generating electricity.

It’s always a lot of fun for us — and hopefully for you, the readers — any time we can run wild with pictures, news, and even reviews of an unannounced handset. Today, however, RIM spoiled our fun and formally announced the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Things like carriers, release dates and pricing have been withheld for the time being, but RIM has made a statement saying that we should all expect to see the BlackBerry 9700 go on sale “around the world beginning in November.” Spec wise, nothing has changed since our pre-release review, but just in case some of you forgot or weren’t paying a whole lot of attention, here’s a quick refresher on the critical specs:

• BlackBerry OS 5.0
• 624MHz CPU
• 256MB flash memory and support for microSD cards up to 32GB
• Quad-band UMTS/HSDPA (800/850/1900/2100 MHz) or tri-band UMTS/HSDPA (900/1700/2100 MHz)
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g with UMA support (carrier dependent)
• A-GPS
• 2.44″ HVGA+ display
• 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash
• Optical trackpad
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP/AVCRP
• 1500 mAh battery
• 6 hours of talk time and 17 days of standby (3G)
• 109mm x 60mm x 14.1mm, 122g

In short, this is the BlackBerry device of your dreams. We’re expecting pretty much every single major GSM carrier on the planet to pick up the 9700 sooner or later, so we’ll be sure to keep the updates coming. As always, high res pics and a few other odds and ends are available after the jump.

UPDATE: AT&T, Rogers and T-Mobile have announced they will be carrying the Bold 9700 in the weeks ahead. AT&T and T-Mobile’s 9700 will go for $199.99 after a $100 MIR on 2-year deals while Rogers will be asking for $299.99 on a 3-year contract with a monthly minimum voice and data plan of $45. Bell and TELUS have yet to come forward with pricing but have confirmed they will be carrying the device.

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PDF files… can’t live with them, can’t live without them. The PDF file format is, in my opinion, one of the best there are on the market. You can scan books or other materials and save them as PDF, it allows you to insert pictures, drawings, etc. and can also contain customized display settings, including page display layout and zoom level.

However, all these features have a price and that is the size of the output file and the loading time. But we already know that quality does not come for free, and for those who want to split very large PDF files in individual pages or merge them into a bigger file, there is a simple solution designed to do just that.

Gios PDF Splitter And Merger is a small application that allows you to split your PDF files into single page ones or merge multiple PDF files. The software is released under the LGPL license, which means you can use it for free for as long as you want, without any limitations, and it is also portable, meaning you don’t have to install it and you can take it wherever you go on a flash drive.

The graphical user interface of the app is as simple as it gets, though it looks a little oldish, but we have to focus on the functionality of the application and not on its looks, since here you can find all the options and features without surfing through bulky … (read more)

As Senate Democrats wrestle with a doctor payment bill separate from sweeping health care reform proposals, the public plan, public opinion and health care costs continue to be a Capitol Hill focus.

Dr. John Kitzhaber’s Unorthodox Ideas On Reforming Health Care
When Dr. John Kitzhaber was president of the Oregon Senate, the state’s languishing economy was tightening the screws on Medicaid outlays. But Kitzhaber, a Democrat, and others wanted to find a way to avoid having to drop residents from the federal-state health program for the poor and disabled, and they came up with a radical idea (Kaiser Health News).

White House Relies On Core Healthcare Team
Peter R. Orszag, the White House official steeped in budget detail, is now so at home in the Capitol that he freely grabs Coke Zeros from the Senate Finance Committee’s private stash when he talks healthcare costs with aides (Los Angeles Times).

Advocates Urge Action Now To ‘fix’ Medicare Doctor Payments
Legislation to “fix” Medicare’s physician payment formula has stalled in the Senate, just days after Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced his intent to fast-track the measure (Kaiser Health News).

Senate Democrats Hit Snag With Doctor Payment Bill
In the face of solid Republican opposition, Senate Democrats on Tuesday backed down from their effort to increase Medicare payments to doctors without offsetting any of the cost over the next 10 years. It was the first skirmish in a larger partisan battle over President Obama’s effort to remake the health care system in a fiscally responsible way (The New York Times).

Who Will Rein In Healthcare Costs? Don’t Look To Congress.
As Congress grapples with how to rein in the high cost of healthcare in America, the option of outsourcing hard decisions to a new, independent commission is gaining momentum. Backers say a commission with a mandate to improve America’s healthcare delivery system and rein in unsustainable costs could be a game-changer (The Christian Science Monitor).

Fight Over Medicare Cuts Plays Into Larger Debate
Senators battled Tuesday over legislation to forestall a cut in Medicare payments to doctors, trying to seize the advantage in the larger health debate (The Wall Street Journal).

Dem Thumbs Down To Reid Doctors Deal
A group of Senate Democrats is threatening to derail a deal Majority Leader Harry Reid offered to doctors in exchange for their support of President Barack Obama’s healthcare initiative (The Hill).

Liberals Increase Pressure For Public Insurance Plan In Health Bill
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid is facing intensifying pressure from liberal lawmakers to revive a proposed government insurance plan before health-care reform legislation reaches the Senate floor, amid signs that moderate Democrats may be warming to the idea (The Washington Post).

Pelosi To Stick With Liberals On Public Health Insurance Option
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is sticking with the liberal wing of her party on healthcare by choosing to go to the House floor with a public option based on Medicare, according to Democratic sources (The Hill).

Pelosi Pushes Strong Public Option
Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats Tuesday night that she wants to move forward with the more liberal version of a House health reform bill that would peg government-run coverage to Medicare – setting up a clash with moderates in her caucus who oppose the plan (Politico).

Watching Washington: Who Care What The Public Says About Public Option?
The Washington Post has headlined a story about a poll it took with ABC News showing that the “public option” feature of the health care debate is supported by a clear majority of Americans. But does that mean the public option will be in the final bill? Don’t bet on it (NPR).

Poll: Americans Skittish Over Health Changes
Americans are increasingly worried about the cost and quality of medical care that could result from President Obama’s effort to revamp health care, but a majority still trust him more than Republicans to change the system, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows (USA Today).

Medicare For Everyone
Say hello to “Medicare Part E” — as in, “Medicare for Everyone.” House Democrats are looking at re-branding the public health insurance option as Medicare, an established government healthcare program that is better known than the public option (The Hill).

AP Source: House Dems Trim Health Bill To $871B
House Democrats are aiming to scale back the cost of their health care bill to well below President Barack Obama’s preferred price tag by giving the government a strong hand in selling insurance in competition with the private market (The Associated Press).

Dems Eye Insurance Industry’s Antitrust Protection
Top Senate Democrats intend to try to strip the health insurance industry of its exemption from federal antitrust laws as part of the debate over health care, according to congressional officials, the latest evidence of a deepening struggle over President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority (The Associated Press).

Drug Coupons Hide True Costs From Consumers
As he makes his case for overhauling the American health care system, President Obama has used the analogy of patients getting a choice between a blue pill and a red pill. The blue pill is just as effective as the red pill, but costs half as much. If everyone would just choose the blue pill, the analogy goes, we could save our health care system a lot of money (NPR).

Medicare Drug Planners Now Lobbyists, With Billions At Stake
Four years ago, a group of lawmakers and aides crafted Medicare Part D, the prescription drug program for seniors that has produced billions of dollars of profits for pharmaceutical companies. Today, at least 25 of those key players are back, but this time they’re lobbyists, trying to persuade their former colleagues to protect the lucrative system during the health care reform negotiations (ProPublica and CBS News).

Health Insurer Tries To Avoid Owning Up To Error
Who should pay when a health insurer screws up? Not the insurer, apparently (Los Angeles Times).

Sign up to receive this list of First Edition headlines via email. Check out all of Kaiser Health News’ email options including First Edition and Breaking News alerts on our Subscriptions page. 

Google announced a number of new and upcoming features for Google Analytics today. The features, Google says, focus on three things: power, flexibility, and intelligence.

It is the intelligence aspect, which Google places the most prominence on, and this comes in the form of a feature called "Analytics Intelligence," which will provide users with automatic alerts of significant changes in the data patterns of their site metrics and dimensions over daily, weekly, and monthly periods. Users can be notified by email or right within the Google Analytics user interface.

Google has also added goals for "time on site" and "pages per visit," as well as the ability to define up to 20 goals per profile. Here’s some more on that:

Google Analytics now tracks mobile websites and mobile apps so you can better measure your mobile marketing efforts. They will be adding a code snippet for users to add to their mobile sites. PHP, Perl, JSP, and ASPX sites will be supported.

"iPhone and Android mobile application developers can now also track how users engage with apps, just as with tracking engagement on a website," says Dai Pham of the Google Analytics Team. "What’s more, for apps on Android devices, usage can be tied back to ad campaigns: from ad to marketplace to download to engagement."

They have also added Advanced Table Filtering, which allows you to filter the rows in a table based on different metric conditions. Here’s more on that feature:

Now when you create a Custom Report, you can select Unique Visitors as a metric against any dimensions in Google Analytics, and they are also adding multiple custom variables to the tracking API and making it easy to share Custom Reports and Advanced Segments.

Google says that it will be going into more detail on the new features in the coming days on the Google Analytics Blog. The features will be appearing in Google Analytics accounts gradually over the coming weeks.

The Chief Medical Officer for England is urging all swine flu priority groups to take up the offer of vaccination against the virus.

A mass immunisation programme against swine flu began today with NHS hospitals vaccinating frontline healthcare workers, and patients who fall into ‘at risk’ categories.

• Find out more about swine flu on Directgov

The vaccination programme will be rolled out around the country over the next few weeks with GP surgeries receiving deliveries from Monday. GPs will contact patients if they fall into one of the at-risk categories, the Department of Health said.

The department added that at-risk groups will be given priority in the following order:

• People aged over six months and under 65 years in current seasonal flu vaccine clinical at-risk groups
• All pregnant women
• Household contacts of people with compromised immune systems
• People aged 65 and over, in the current seasonal flu vaccine clinical at-risk groups

The Department of Health said this did not include over-65s that are otherwise healthy, since they already seem to have some natural immunity to the virus.

During PMQ’s on Wednesday the Prime Minister said:

“For both those who are at risk and health service workers we are starting the process of vaccination immediately… We have been ahead of the world in purchasing the vaccines that are necessary and in making sure that those people who need treatment with antivirals have it available at the earliest opportunity.”

The Government estimates that around two million frontline health and social care workers will be offered the vaccine. More than 11 million people in England will be offered it in first instance in priority groups.

TurnHere has shared the results of an interesting survey on current and future trends in online video among brands and marketing agencies. The survey found that online video has and will continue to have a prominent place in the arsenal of marketers. It should be noted that TurnHere is an online video company.

"This survey clearly demonstrates that businesses of all sizes consider online video to be an integral part of their marketing mix," said Bud Rosenthal, CEO of TurnHere. "Online video is the number one priority among all online marketing tools for 2010, and that finding directly ties into the high satisfaction levels for video implementation and its return on investment (ROI)."

Noteworthy findings include:

 

– Online video is the top marketing priority for 2010, edging out both email and search marketing

– Companies are experimenting across a wide range of video marketing: 57% have created branded video; 40% have used video for product or service demos, and 37% for customer or employee testimonials

– Branded content is the preferred online video type with the highest use among all video formats, the highest overall satisfaction levels and the highest likelihood of future use

– The top reasons for video include: branding (60%), exposure on sites like YouTube (54.7%), and viral content (48%)

– Professionally produced content was overwhelmingly favored over user generated

– 83.5% of respondents are already using online video in their marketing efforts in one form or another

– 90.7% of respondents are likely or highly likely to use online video in their marketing efforts in the next 12 months

The survey was conducted throughout the third quarter of 2009, and included respondents from Fortune 500 companies, as well as regional brands, PR and traditional agencies. Surveyed companies had annual marketing budgets ranging from $100,000 to $5 million.TurnHere’s report is available here.

Mathew Ingram points us to the news that some UK newspapers are apparently threatening UK-based news aggregator NewsNow. I’ve used NewsNow in the past, and I can’t see what the complaint is — at all. NewsNow provides headlines and links. That’s it. At least when I was using it, it didn’t even provide summary text. I actually discovered a lot of useful new sources when I used it, and that’s because NewsNow always struck me as one of the best aggregators out there. It found a lot more than most of the others. To be honest, my big complaint with NewsNow is that they limit their free feeds significantly — and there’s no RSS or anything. After a while, I just gave up on using it, because without RSS, it just didn’t fit into my daily method of following the news, no matter how useful the site is. However, it’s really difficult to see what sort of complaint any newspaper could have with such a service whose sole purpose is to drive more traffic. It is, as the link above so colorfully describes:

the equivalent of a herd of donkeys filing a class action suit against the inventor of the wheel….

Unless there’s something more to these legal threats — and, admittedly, only one side is weighing in on what happened here, the whole thing just seems like a stretch by at least some UK newspapers to try to intimidate online sites into paying them.

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Homebrew coder kvance has released a new update for DSMZX, a homebrew port of MegaZeux to the Nintendo DS. The latest build adds fixes for EZFlash har…

Apple selling new 21.5- and 27-inch iMacs
These “Crazy Earphones” sure deserve their name
The “moki” 1st gen iPod shuffle case
The $259, dual-screen Barnes & Noble Nook reader gets official
The new Mighty Mouse is the Magic Mouse