Author: asormani

Gengo, a translation platform for global companies, has closed a $12 million round of funding led by Intel Capital, with participation from Atomico, Iris Capital, Infocomm Investments, NTT-IP Fund and STC Ventures. Further details of the investment were not released.

PRESS RELEASE

Gengo, the translation platform for global companies, announced that the company has recently closed a US$12M round of funding led by Intel Capital, along with participation from Atomico, Iris Capital, Infocomm Investments, NTT-IP Fund and STC Ventures. Details of the investment were not released.

Gengo provides an API and platform for fast, high-quality human translation for 33 languages, provided by a pool of over 7,500 tested and rated translators for global large and small-and-medium-sized companies as well as individuals. Currently, leading e-commerce, online travel, and community portals are powered by its translation platform.

With this new round of financing, Gengo will accelerate global expansion, while also improving the translation platform and increasing the speed of the translation process. Gengo recently partnered with YouTube, enabling video uploaders to order professional-quality translation for their captions. Leveraging Gengo’s translation platform, more and more of this kind of online communications will happen globally.

“The Gengo team is excited about working with investors from Asia, the USA, Europe, and the Middle East, lead by Intel Capital, because of their global experience and track record helping entrepreneurs,” said Robert Laing, CEO and co-founder of Gengo. “There’s a significant technology component to human translation at scale, so it’s great to work with a firm with the pedigree of Intel Capital,” added Matthew Romaine, CTO and co-founder of Gengo.

“As the Internet breaks down the concept of national borders, we think Gengo’s service will vitalize communication for people around the world.” said Kaz Yoshida, President, Intel K.K. “It will help to break the language barrier and bring together the wisdom of the people to address global social challenges we are facing. Intel promotes innovation so that people can enjoy rich and fulfilling experiences.”

“Gengo is at the forefront of the crowd-sourced translation space,” said Sudheer Kuppam, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Intel Capital. “Intel Capital welcomes Gengo to its portfolio. We look forward to working with the company to bring this unique service to more users worldwide.”

“Since our original investment, Gengo has proven it can scale its business across the world whilst growing its revenue fourfold,” said Hiro Tamura, Partner at Atomico. “We are excited to have Intel Capital, Infocomm and Orange all join the team as they share our core belief that the world is getting smaller, and that the most successful businesses of tomorrow will be truly global.”

“The 33 billion-dollar translation market is expected to experience a radical change and we believe that Gengo will play a crucial role in the change,” said Denis Barrier, Partner at Iris Capital. “We think it’s wonderful that Gengo has been based in both Asia and Silicon Valley since its establishment and is managed by visionary founders with global perspective”

“We are excited to join the team of truly global investors in helping Gengo with its expansion plans” said Kuo-Yi Lim, CEO of Infocomm Investments. “Singapore is well positioned – with a multicultural and multilingual environment, and diverse talent pool – as a base for Gengo’s growth into the rest of Asia.”

“Gengo provides crowd-sourced translation services utilizing a uniquely developed platform”, said Nobuyuki Akimoto, Executive Vice President & COO at DOCOMO Innovation Ventures. “They have been creating growing opportunities as a globally expanding start-up company and we look forward to their growth.”

About Gengo:
Gengo is the platform for global companies. A powerful API lets enterprise customers integrate professional-quality translation into their application, making it easy to build multi-language services. Gengo’s simple website also allows individuals and SMBs to order individual translations in a matter of seconds. Over 7,500 qualified translators work on jobs through the Gengo platform, in all timezones. This scale means Gengo can return simple translations in a matter of minutes, in 33 languages and at a quality level suited to each customer. Gengo’s platform takes care of quality control, job allocation and translation review. This means companies can focus on their business, while Gengo empowers them to go global. Gengo was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Tokyo.

About Intel Capital:
Intel Capital, Intel’s global investment and M&A organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, mobility, health, consumer Internet, digital media and semiconductor manufacturing. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$10.8 billion in over 1,276 companies in 54 countries. In that timeframe, 201 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and 317 were acquired or participated in a merger. In 2012, Intel Capital invested US$352 million in 150 investments with approximately 57 percent of funds invested outside North America. For more information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit www.intelcapital.com or follow @Intelcapital.

About Atomico:
Atomico is a leading international venture capital firm formed in 2006 by Niklas Zennström, a successful serial-entrepreneur and co-founder of Skype, Kazaa and other companies. Atomico seeks to deliver outsized returns to investors by being the partner, and investor of choice, for fast-growing technology companies that will become global category winners. It has so far invested in more than 40 companies on three continents, and in March 2010 launched its second fund, the $165m institutional fund Atomico Ventures II. Atomico is headquartered in London with offices in São Paulo and Beijing. For more information: www.atomico.com

About Iris Capital:
Iris Capital is a pan-European venture capital fund manager specializing in digital economy. Since its inception in 1986, the Iris Capital team has invested more than €900 million in more than 200 companies. Iris Capital targets opportunities in service or technology companies, seeking growth capital in order to realize their strategy. It provides active support to its portfolio companies on the basis of its strong sector specialization and experience, and has offices in Paris, Düsseldorf, San Francisco, Montreal, Riyadh, Dubai, Beijing and Tokyo. In 2012 Iris Capital has entered into a strategic partnership with Orange and Publicis to manage their
joint venture capital initiative. www.iriscapital.com

About Infocomm Investments
Infocomm Investments is the venture capital arm of Singapore government’s IT authority — IDA (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore). Managing a fund of $200 million, Infocomm Investments invests alongside top-tier investors in growth stage technology companies and help startups around the world expand to Asian markets by leveraging Singapore’s top-class business infrastructure. For more information: www.infocomminvestments.com

About Docomo Innovation Ventures
DOCOMO Innovation Ventures, on behalf of NTT Group, play a proactive role in accelerating innovation for technologies and services by discovering, nurturing, and supporting venture businesses. We have just established 10-billion-yen (approximately 105 million USD) DOCOMO Innovation Fund, and have been operating 15-billion-yen (approximately 158 million USD) NTT Investment Partners Fund (NTT-IP Fund) since 2008. For more information: http://www.docomo-i-ventures.com/

About STC Ventures
STC Ventures is a venture capital fund, independently managed by Iris Capital, whose anchor investor is the Saudi Telecom Company. STC Ventures is focused on equity investments in the information technology, telecommunications, and digital media/entertainment sectors; seeking to support the development of innovative technology companies in Saudi Arabia, the GCC, Levant, North Africa and Turkey, in addition to funding globally minded international companies seeking capital and access to the MENA region. STC Group is the largest telecommunications company in MENA, ranked in the top 20 mobile networks in the world, and serving more than 160 million subscribers. www.stcventures.com

* Gengo is trademark of Gengo Inc in the United States and other countries.
* Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

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Retired Intel chairman of the board and CEO Craig Barrett and retired Avnet chairman of the board and CEO Roy Vallee, have been elected to Tallwave‘s board of directors. Both senior executives previously held positions on Tallwave’s advisory board. Launched in 2010, Tallwave describes itself as a “commercializor”.

PRESS RELEASE

In a move that punctuates the quality and commitment of its leadership, Tallwave announced retired Intel Chairman of the Board and CEO Craig Barrett, Ph.D. and retired Avnet Chairman of the Board and CEO Roy Vallee, were elected to Tallwave’s board of directors at their meeting held April 17. Both senior executives previously held positions on Tallwave’s advisory board.
Launched in 2010, Tallwave — a self-described “commercializor” — is disrupting the traditional incubator / accelerator model with a proprietary and unique approach to the commercialization of startups and early-stage ventures. Since launch, the company has vetted more than 300 entrepreneurs and their startups, and has taken more than 65 of those companies through its lean business Venture Services programs. Today, the company manages a portfolio of a half dozen early-stage ventures; delivers proprietary lean startup education and training to entrepreneurs across the country through its Tallwave Labs™ program, and hosts one of the most innovative startup competitions in the U.S. — “High Tide.”
“Craig and Roy’s commitment to join the board of directors is further validation that Tallwave is rapidly changing the startup community landscape,” said Jeffrey Pruitt, CEO of Tallwave. “Roy’s knowledge and ingenious leadership will be tremendous assets as we build out our infrastructure, and Craig’s strategic insights into entrepreneurial ecosystems from other parts of the world will help drive our global expansion plans.”
Dr. Barrett joined Intel in 1974 and rose through the engineering ranks to become Intel’s fourth president in 1997, chief executive officer in 1998 and chairman of the board in 2005. He is a leading advocate for business and education around the world and has served on numerous influential task forces and boards. Barrett holds a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in materials science from Stanford University, where he was on the faculty for 10 years.
Among numerous appointments in education and commerce several are particularly relevant to Tallwave’s global vision for lean business entrepreneurship. Chief among these are Dr. Barrett’s appointments by the President of the Russian Federation as International co-chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation Council; the Council for Foreign Relations Task Force on U.S. Education Reform and National Security, and the faculty of Thunderbird School of Global Management. Dr. Barrett is also Chair of the Irish Technology Leadership Group which supports commercialization of work by Irish entrepreneurs.
“Tallwave plays a critical role in solving a key challenge the U.S. faces as we compete globally for innovation,” said Barrett. “The first two ingredients are world-class research and an educated workforce. The third is commercialization — marrying research and innovation with talent and capital to move to market aggressively and efficiently. In my time spent looking at entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world, I’ve yet to find a commercialization engine like Tallwave and I welcome the opportunity to be part of such a stellar team.”
While serving as chairman and chief executive at Avnet from July 1998 until July 2011, Vallee accelerated its success as an industry consolidator and was instrumental in Avnet’s acquisition of 47 companies to increase geographic coverage, scale and scope, and shareholder value. He also introduced value-based management which emphasizes return on capital employed, and economic profit growth.
In January 2013, Vallee was named deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s board of directors, a position he still holds. He served on the bank’s Economic Advisory Council from 2010 to 2012.
In addition to Avnet, Vallee is a member of the boards of directors of three private companies and two publicly held companies: Teradyne, a leading automated testing company for the semiconductor industry and Synopsys, Inc., the leading supplier of electronic design automation software.
“Tallwave has the opportunity to be ‘the next big thing’ for building sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems, globally,” said Vallee. “Tallwave provides startup companies with subject matter expertise across a wide range of industries as well as access to investors. Most importantly, Tallwave’s experienced entrepreneurs and executive leadership actually help do the hard work these startups need in order to succeed. This is a scalable engine that will serve as a model of innovation, and I’m excited to help drive it forward.”
About Tallwave
Tallwave is a commercializor.
The company creates commercial success and shareholder value for entrepreneurs and investors by validating, scaling and managing early-stage and growth ventures with a hands-on approach.
What separates Tallwave from the limitations of Incubator, Accelerator and traditional Venture Capital firm business models is its proprietary Tallwave Way™ closed-loop commercialization engine. The combination of Tallwave’s lean Business Blueprint™ for product and company validation, its Operator Model™ for resource deployment and the access to pre-seed through Series A capital its networks provide, has been used to vet over 300 entrepreneurs and their concepts, validate more than 65 startups, and build a portfolio of half a dozen early-stage companies.
Founded and led by former iCrossing, Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, GoDaddy and Marketwire executives, Tallwave is headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Twice a year, Tallwave hosts High Tide™, one of the most innovative startup competitions in the U.S.

Contact Information
Media Contact:
Linda Capcara
TechTHiNQ
[email protected]
480-229-7090

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Integrated Asset Management and its private corporate debt group, Integrated Private Debt Corp have closed a $15 million senior loan with Skyline Blue Mountain Village Inc. The capital raised by Skyline will be used to assist with the acquisition from Intrawest ULC of retail property located within Blue Mountain Resort Village.

PRESS RELEASE

Integrated Asset Management Corp. (“IAM”) (TSX:IAM) and its private corporate debt group, Integrated Private Debt Corp. (“IPD”), announce the closing on April 15, 2013 of a $15 million senior loan to Skyline Blue Mountain Village Inc. (“Skyline”).
The capital raised by Skyline will be used to assist with the acquisition from Intrawest ULC of retail property located within Blue Mountain Resort Village.
Skyline is owned by Skyline International Development Inc., a private Canadian investment and management company incorporated in 1998, specializing in the purchase, renovation and development of Ontario-based development and destination communities as well as hotels and resorts. Its portfolio includes Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, ON, Horseshoe Valley Resort in Barrie, ON, as well as The King Edward Hotel, Cosmopolitan Hotel and Pantages Hotel, all located in Toronto, ON.
Philip Robson, President of IPD said, “We welcome this opportunity to provide Skyline with long term fixed rate financing. IPD is pleased to have been invited by Skyline to assist it with the acquisition of assets within the Blue Mountain Resort, Ontario’s biggest ski and golf resort. We are especially pleased to include Skyline in our portfolio, recognizing it to be one of Canada’s leading creators of lifestyle-enhancing environments and experiences.”
IPD manages and provides funding from the $1.1 billion Integrated Private Debt Fund LPs on behalf of a number of Canadian pension funds and other institutional investors. IPD offers fixed rate, investment grade term loans to mid-market companies for such purposes as refinancing existing debt, acquisitions, plant expansion or modernization, project financing and management buyouts.
IAM is one of Canada’s leading alternative asset management companies, with approximately $1.9 billion in assets and committed capital under management in private corporate debt, real estate, managed futures, private equity and retail alternative investments.
Contact Information
Integrated Private Debt Corp.
Michael LeClair
Managing Director
416-367-9627
[email protected]

Integrated Private Debt Corp.
Philip S. Robson
President
416-367-3972
[email protected]
www.iamgroup.ca

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Chinese law firm Zhong Lun Law Firm is opening a New York office. The firm is celebrating its 20 year anniversary.

PRESS RELEASE

Zhong Lun Law Firm, one of China’s top private law firms, with over 700 lawyers in six offices across China and international offices in London, Tokyo and Hong Kong, announces the opening of its New York office, on the occasion of its 20th anniversary celebration.
Located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, the new office is led by Philip Zhang and T.K. Chang, two senior lawyers who have cumulatively over 50 years of private practice experience with leading international law firms. The office is also supported by over 40 partners in Zhong Lun’s worldwide offices who hold U.S. law degrees, and who would be able to provide clients with seamless round-the-clock legal service.
Zhong Lun Law Firm was founded as a private partnership in 1993 as one of the very first private law firms in China to be approved by the Chinese Ministry of Justice. Zhong Lun currently has over 700 licensed lawyers, of whom over 160 are partners.
Philip Zhang is dual licensed to practice law both in China and in the U.S., and holds a JD degree from Columbia and a LLB degree from the China University of Political Science & Law. He has been practicing law in China since 1990, and worked for two years for a top Singapore law firm before enrolling at Columbia. He was one of the first Chinese lawyers to receive a JD degree from a leading U.S. law school, and he was also one of the first China-qualified lawyers to make partner at a major New York law firm. In 2008, Mr. Zhang received the “Outstanding 50 Asian American in Business Award” from the Asian American Business Development Center in New York. He is also the General Counsel of the China Chamber of Commerce in the USA, which is comprised of the U.S. subsidiaries of major Chinese companies.
T.K. Chang holds BA, JD and MBA degrees from Harvard and MA degree from Yale, and has been practicing law for over 30 years in New York, Greenwich, Hong Kong and Beijing. Mr. Chang has been doing business in China since1981, when he signed one of the first fast-food agreements in China with the Beijing City government. He also taught one of the first courses in U.S. law to officials of the then-new Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in 1982.
Mr. Chang has negotiated many other first-of-its-kind transactions in China, including the loan of the two panda bears to the New York Bronx Zoo, the first international hotel management contract in Lhasa Tibet, one of the first international real estate development projects in Beijing and one of the first acquisitions by a PRC enterprise of a U.S. company.
Mr. Zhang stated: “As a licensed Chinese lawyer based in New York, I am in an unique position to be a bridge between U.S. companies and entrepreneurs and their counterparts in China.”
Mr. Chang stated: “We will try to be a problem solver for U.S. companies doing business or investing China, and for Chinese companies doing business or investing in the U.S.”
Xuebing Zhang, the founding partner of Zhong Lun Law Firm and its Managing Partner stated, “We welcome Philip and T.K. to our partnership, and together, we hope to build a firm that will become one of the best international law firms in the world.”
Zhong Lun Law Firm is a full-service international law firm based in China, with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London and New York.
Chambers & Partners, the leading directory of the legal profession, ranked Zhong Lun in 2012 as a top law firm in 23 categories, with the highest Band One ranking in 14 categories, in each case more than any other Chinese law firms. Chambers also ranked 46 lawyers at Zhong Lun as leading lawyers in China, again the most of any Chinese law firm.
Chambers ranked Zhong Lun in the highest Band One in numerous practice areas, including M&A, capital markets and finance, China real estate, environmental law, antitrust and merger clearance, technology-media-telecommunications, international trade, private equity and workouts and bankruptcy.

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Cervel Neurotech, a privately held company developing a novel, non-invasive and non-pharmacologic therapy for depression, pain and other conditions, has completed a funding round of $14.1 million. The company’s existing investors, D. E. Shaw Ventures and Aberdare Ventures, participated in the equity financing.

PRESS RELEASE

Cervel Neurotech, Inc. a privately held company developing a novel, non-invasive and non-pharmacologic therapy for depression, pain and other conditions, today announced that it has completed a capital raise of $14.1 million. The Company’s existing investors, D. E. Shaw Ventures and Aberdare Ventures, participated in the equity financing. In addition, two new investors joined the equity syndicate and a credit facility with East West Bank completed the financing.
“We are very pleased with this capital raise in that it provides us with significant resources to advance the company,” said Eric Meier, Chief Executive Officer of Cervel Neurotech. “Specifically, this financing enables us to continue to demonstrate the highly differentiated nature of our platform for the treatment of psychiatric and neurologic conditions. Our clinical pilot studies in depression and pain have yielded promising safety and effectiveness data, and this funding will allow us to undertake the larger scale clinical activities required to further validate our novel approach to delivering transcranial magnetic therapy.”
Certain disorders, such as depression, are thought to occur because of suboptimal metabolic activity in a network of regions within the brain. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) involves using alternating magnetic fields to create small electrical currents that stimulate areas in the brain to restore metabolism. Cervel’s proprietary approach uses multiple magnetic fields, generated by coils placed on a patient’s scalp, to selectively stimulate both surface and deeper brain regions.
About Cervel Neurotech, Inc.
Cervel Neurotech, a privately held medical device company based in Foster City, Calif., is pioneering a non-invasive, non-pharmacologic and non-systemic treatment for psychiatric and neurologic illnesses. The magnetic coils are uniquely designed to allow steering of the magnetic fields through multiple, specific brain regions associated with the symptoms of a particular disorder. Cervel’s Steerable TMS™ technology avoids unintended stimulation of areas not associated with the disorder.
About D. E. Shaw Ventures
D. E. Shaw Ventures is the venture capital unit of the D. E. Shaw group, a global investment and technology development firm with more than 1,000 employees and approximately $28 billion in investment capital as of January 1, 2013, and offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Since our founding in 1988, the firm has earned an international reputation for successful investing based on innovation, careful risk management, and the quality and depth of our staff. We have a significant presence in the world’s capital markets, investing in a wide range of companies and financial instruments in both developed and developing economies.
About Aberdare Ventures, Inc.
Formed in 1999, Aberdare Ventures is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm investing in visionary entrepreneurs and technologies that are transforming healthcare with new biological, engineering, and information technologies. The firm has attracted and partnered with many superior early stage companies such as Ironwood, Pharmion, Clovis Oncology and MC10, repeatedly backing start-up’s that have grown to values exceeding $1 billion. The team of six investment professionals oversees a committed capital base in excess of $400 million in aggregate.

Contact Information
Media Contact
Judy Bartlett-Roberto
Cervel Neurotech, Inc.
[email protected]
925.787.8113

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John R. Hempill, Jack Kiley and MaryJeanette Dee have joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as partners in the firm’s New York office. Sheppard Mullin is a full service global 100 law firm with 630 attorneys in 16 offices located in the United States, Europe and Asia.

PRESS RELEASE

John R. Hempill, Jack Kiley and MaryJeanette Dee have joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as partners in the firm’s New York office. Hempill joins as a member of the Corporate practice group from Morrison Foerster, where he was a former co-chair of the Emerging Companies & Venture Capital group. Kiley joins as a member of the Labor and Employment practice group from Kelley Drye & Warren, where he chaired the Labor and Employment practice group. Dee joins as a member of the Business Trial practice group from Richards Kibbe & Orbe, where she was a member of the executive committee. Joining Kiley at Sheppard Mullin from Kelley Drye & Warren is a six-attorney Labor and Employment group.
“John, Jack and MaryJeanette are terrific additions to the firm. Their respective practice expertise and backgrounds are a perfect fit with the New York office, as well as firmwide. We continue to grow our New York office and expand our bench to better serve clients’ transactional and litigation needs,” said Guy N. Halgren, chairman of Sheppard Mullin.
“We have been working hard to solidify our presence in NYC. We are very pleased to expand our office with a number of new attorneys. John, Jack and MaryJeanette are amazing attorneys and people. In addition, we are adding significant new associate talent to support our growing NY practices,” commented Blaine Templeman, managing partner of Sheppard Mullin’s 57-attorney New York office.
Hempill counsels numerous companies in a variety of industries. He has extensive experience in private and public finance, ranging from representing private emerging growth companies, venture capital funds and strategic investors in seed rounds and later stage private financings, to representing public companies and investment banks in public offerings, as well as 144A and PIPEs financings. Hempill is also an experienced mergers and acquisitions lawyer for both public and private companies, having advised clients in acquisitions and dispositions of assets as well as other types of negotiated business combinations. He has represented venture capital and other funds in their formation and capitalization. John’s practice also involves negotiating and documenting strategic alliances and joint ventures, and providing advice on corporate governance. Hempill also has extensive experience with reorganization matters, both in and out of court. He represents the Circuit of the Americas and recently completed a series of financings on its behalf that were used to construct the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the U.S. Hempill received a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1982 and an A.B. from University of Chicago in 1979.
Kiley represents management in all areas of labor and employment law, from advice and counseling to litigation to collective bargaining. His representative clients range from Fortune 100 corporations to not-for-profit agencies. Kiley expands the firm’s capabilities in areas such as securities arbitrations, labor union organizing, contract negotiations and board proceedings. He has litigated and arbitrated numerous cases in federal and state courts and before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and American Arbitration Association (AAA). Kiley has successfully defended against organizing campaigns, represented employers in collective bargaining and defended against NLRB proceedings. He also routinely partners with human resource professionals, management and in-house counsel in providing consultation, advice and training on all matters having labor and employment implications, including legal compliance issues, employee performance management, reductions-in-force and facility closings, employment contracts and union awareness. Kiley received a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 1989 and a B.A. from Amherst College in 1984.
Dee concentrates on internal investigations and regulatory and white collar criminal defense. She has conducted numerous internal investigations for board committees and management into a wide variety of allegations, including improper revenue recognition, accounting irregularities, misuse of confidential information, insider trading and other securities fraud, embezzlement, retail brokerage sales practice violations, soft dollar programs, trading and position valuation issues, and compliance with Rule 105/Regulation M. Dee also frequently represents banks, broker-dealers, investment advisers, corporate officers, securities professionals, lawyers and other individuals in connection with investigations and inquiries by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the SEC, FINRA, the Office of the Attorney General for the State of New York and other governmental entities and self-regulatory organizations. In 1993, she served as Special District Attorney in the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts. Dee obtained convictions in bench and jury trials for credit card fraud, aggravated assault, stalking and other felony crimes. Dee received a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1990 and a B.A., summa cum laude, from Wells College.
About Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
Sheppard Mullin is a full service Global 100 firm with 630 attorneys in 16 offices located in the United States, Europe and Asia. Since 1927, companies have turned to Sheppard Mullin to handle corporate and technology matters, high stakes litigation and complex financial transactions. In the U.S., the firm’s clients include more than half of the Fortune 100.

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UK-based mid-market private equity firm Bowmark Capital has backed the 30 million pounds ($45.6 million) management buyout and expansion financing of Drake & Morgan. Drake & Morgan is a London-based bar-restaurant group and was founded in 2008 by the Imbiba Partnership, a specialist bar and restaurant investment partnership.

PRESS RELEASE

Bowmark Capital, the mid-market private equity firm, is backing the £30 million management buy-out and expansion financing of Drake & Morgan, the fast growing London-based bar-restaurant group.

Drake & Morgan was founded in 2008 by the Imbiba Partnership, the specialist bar and restaurant investment partnership, and managing director Jillian MacLean, the highly regarded leisure entrepreneur who has over 20 years’ experience in the hospitality industry. The vision was to create an innovative new chain of bar-restaurants in London that combined a stylish, accessible and “female-friendly” environment with a unique all-day food and drink offering.

Since opening its first site, The Refinery, in Southwark in late 2008, the company has added The Parlour in Canary Wharf, and three sites in the City – The Anthologist, The Folly and The Drift. Two additional venues are due to open later his year – The Happenstance in St Paul’s and a new site in Holborn – and the management has identified a further eight sites for opening over the following two years. Over the longer-term, the company plans to roll-out the concept nationwide and believes there is potential for up to 70 units across the UK.

The “eating and drinking out” market has shown long-term growth over the past 20 years, and has proven resilient throughout the economic downturn, especially in London. Within this market, Drake & Morgan, which has won numerous industry awards, has performed particularly strongly – having grown sales at over 75% per annum over the past three years to their current level of £18 million.

Each of the company’s sites has its own unique design and identity, but shares the same innovative format and menu, and best-in-class service philosophy. All dishes use seasonal, locally sourced ingredients, and there are over 40 wines available by the glass, along with a range of imaginative cocktails, including “skinny” and “flaming”, adorned with edible wild flowers. Other unique features include a mixology bar, a deli counter and master classes for customers in cocktail making, wine tasting and butchery.

Drake & Morgan’s sites are typically based in landmark locations, often on the ground floor of new office developments. The all-day trading format, along with the high quality of fit-out and service, are an attractive proposition for landlords, and the company has a strong pipeline of sites for development, particularly in central London.

Bowmark has committed further funds to support the roll-out strategy, alongside a debt package from RBS Financial Sponsors. Bowmark has a strong track record of backing successful roll-outs in the leisure industry, including previous investments in the Las Iguanas and Living Room restaurant and bar chains.

John Connell of Imbiba said: “This transaction is consistent with our ‘buy, build and exit’ business model. Drake and Morgan has now completed its ‘start-up stage’ following which the dynamics of the company will change and it is now time to hand over to new owners to move the company to a more mature level. This exit represents a truly excellent return for Imbiba Partnership shareholders and illustrates our consistent ability to deliver significant shareholder value. We have known Bowmark for a long time and have been impressed by their understanding and approach to the sector. I look forward to working with them during this transition period and seeing Drake & Morgan flourish over the coming years.”

John Connell will continue in his role as chairman of Drake & Morgan post-transaction. He and his fellow Imbiba partners, Simon Wheeler and Mark Brumby, are retaining a minority stake, alongside Jillian MacLean and her management team.

Jillian MacLean commented: “We are very excited about the next phase of our growth strategy and, with Bowmark’s support and financial backing, we look forward to accelerating the roll-out of the company, both in central London and in other locations across the country.”

Bowmark partner, Ron Pearson, said: “Drake & Morgan represents an appealing proposition for both customers and landlords, and is led by one the best management teams in the hospitality sector. We believe the business has significant potential for further growth, and look forward to working with Jillian and her team to scale the business.”

Drake & Morgan and Imbiba were advised by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

For further information, please contact:

Bowmark Capital: Charles Ind on
020 7189 9000
Caroline Cecil Associates: Caroline Cecil on
020 7610 4110
Imbiba Partnership Simon Wheeler on
07929 089221
Drake & Morgan Rochelle Cohen on
020 7436 1111

For photos please contact Caroline Cecil on 020 7610 4110, [email protected] or Rochelle Cohen on 020 7436 1111, [email protected]

About Bowmark:
Bowmark Capital is a leading private equity firm specialising in smaller UK companies. Founded in 1997, Bowmark manages and advises funds totalling approximately £700 million on behalf of a blue chip investor base including public pension funds, insurance companies and banks from the UK, US and Continental Europe.

The Bowmark team has extensive experience of investing in growth companies run by experienced management teams, and has supported over 50 different businesses across a range of industries including business services, leisure, healthcare, media and IT services. Current investments include: Las Iguanas, the UK’s leading chain of Latin American restaurants; Leaders Lettings, the UK’s leading specialist lettings agency; CSL Dualcom, a leading UK security communications company; Healthcare Homes, a private pay residential elderly care provider; DATIX, a provider of patient safety and risk management software to the healthcare sector; and JAC Group, a leading provider of B2B travel services.

Exits include: Data Explorers, the leading supplier of securities lending data to the global financial industry; Education and Adventure Travel, the leading specialist educational travel services group; The Regard Partnership, a provider of care and residential services to people with a learning disability; Living Ventures, the operator of The Living Room bar and restaurant chain; Medscreen, Europe’s leading dedicated provider of drug and alcohol testing services; and RDF Media, a leading independent TV production company.

Bowmark Capital LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. www.bowmark.com

About Imbiba:

Over the last 12 years, Imbiba has created, nurtured and built EIS compliant start-up businesses in the bar and bar/restaurant sector. It has then exited the majority of its investments in a timely manner in order to crystallise value for shareholders. As a result, the Imbiba Partnership has achieved an average compound rate of return, for all realised and unrealised EIS projects, in excess of 35% per annum.

Caroline Cecil

Caroline Cecil Associates
30 Poplar Grove, London W6 7RE
T. +44 (0)20 7610 4110, F. +44 (0)20 7610 4111

Caroline Cecil Associates Ltd Registered in England no 5248175

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The London Pensions Fund Authority has appointed Sir Merrick Cockell as deputy chairman. The LPFA has also added of three pensions industry veterans to its board.

PRESS RELEASE

LPFA cements reputation as centre of excellence in public pensions management with the appointment of three industry heavyweights to its Board, and of Sir Merrick Cockell, who stood down as Leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea after 13 years this week, as Deputy Chairman.
The London Pensions Fund Authority (“LPFA”), one of the largest Local Government Pension Scheme (“LGPS”) funds in the UK, today announces the appointment of Sir Merrick Cockell as Deputy Chairman and the addition of three pensions industry veterans to its Board.
Sir Merrick stepped down as Leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea after 13 years this week, while the new Board members are Dermot McMullan (Trustee of the Bank of America UK Pension Plan), Abdallah Nauphal (Chief Executive Officer at Insight Investment) and Kerry Adby (Managing Director at Copernican Securities).
The confirmation of McMullan, Nauphal and Adby as Non-Executive Directors – all of whom bring with them extensive experience of the pensions industry – further supports the LPFA’s reputation as the best-in-class manager of public pensions. McMuillen has been a Trustee of the Bank of America UK Pension Plan since 2003, taking over as chairman in 2007. This year he was also appointed a Director of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch UK Pension Plan.
Nauphal is currently CEO of Insight Investment, an asset management firm that manages more than £220bn, mostly on behalf of UK pension schemes. Since joining Insight in 2003, Nauphal has re-engineered the business to focus on bridging the gap between clients’ specific investment needs and the largely generic products on offer.
Adby is Managing Director at Copernican Securities, a specialist consultancy that provides structured, corporate and strategic advisory services. She brings with her a wealth of pensions experience, with current and recent Board roles including the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, WINenergy and the WorkCover NSW Insurance Fund. In addition she has served as a pensions adviser to the World Bank.

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THE Football App has raised its first institutional funding with a 10 million euro ($13 million) Series A from a syndicate led by Earlybird Venture Capital. THE Football App aggregates data, media content and services from providers around the world and bundles them into a “one stop shop” for football fans.

PRESS RELEASE

THE Football App has raised its first institutional funding with a €10m Series A from a syndicate led by Earlybird Venture Capital. THE Football App has become the dominant mobile football application across all platforms in Europe and plans to continue to grow rapidly around the globe, especially in light of the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

THE Football App aggregates data, media content and services (e.g. ticketing) from the best providers around the world and bundles them into a “one stop shop” for football fans. Users can adapt the app to their needs and quickly access live tickers, rankings, team statistics, services and much more for their favourite leagues, teams and big matches – anytime and from everywhere. Funds will also be used to improve the community and social features, as well as release complementing products around the greatest sport in the world.

“We’ve so far bootstrapped the company and built an incredibly loyal user base of mobile football fans. With the recent explosive growth rates, especially from all over Europe, we realized the potential to build the leading digital football community as a space to inform, connect and engage interested parties around their passion for football. Today we are delighted to have found the perfect partner to realize our visions and accelerate our plans.” said Lucas von Cranach, co-Founder and CEO of THE Football App.

Hendrik Brandis, partner at Earlybird added, “We are big believers in the vertical internet, especially on mobile. And THE Football App is on a trajectory to dominate this huge market. We’re excited to be working with the team that has built such a passionate and large user base without any marketing whatsoever. They’ve simply built the best product.“

Some further facts on THE Football App:

Free and available on iTunes, Google Play, Windows Store and Samsung SmartTV
Football content covering over 100 leagues in 6 languages. Goals for 2013: 400 leagues in 40 languages
6.5 million downloads in total, average rating of 4.5/5
3.5 million monthly active users
up to 1.5 million daily active users
up to 100.000 downloads per day without marketing spend
50% retention rate over 4 years (market average 10-15% over 12 months)
200 – 250 page impressions per user per month

ABOUT EARLYBIRD

Established in 1997 Earlybird currently manages over $700M in assets. We have backed more than 80 companies, some of which have sparked significant innovations in business and technology and resulted in large scale ($1bn+) IPOs and trade sales. Earlybird backs European companies with global ambitions and our active portfolio currently includes more than 20 companies across the consumer internet and enterprise services space such as 6Wunderkinder, Auctionata, B2X Care Solutions, Carpooling.com, Madvertise, Peak Games, Socialbakers, Smava, Traxpay and THE Football App. Further information is available at www.earlybird.com, follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/earlybirdvc, or LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/earlybird-venture-capital or become a friend on Facebook: www.facebook.com/EarlybirdVC.

PRESS CONTACT EARLYBIRD

Christine Hoefer
+49 30 46 72 470 20
[email protected]

If you would like to be taken off the mailing list for the EARLYBIRD News, we kindly ask you to send an email to [email protected] and to include “UNSUBSCRIBE EARLYBIRD” in the subject line. In this case, we apologize for the inconvenience.

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LOI Thermprocess GmbH, a Tenova subsidiary company, has acquired Metall Technologie Holding Group, from European Capital, an affiliate of American Capital Ltd. Completion of the acquisition is subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities.

PRESS RELEASE

Today, LOI Thermprocess GmbH, a Tenova subsidiary company, announced the acquisition of Metall Technologie Holding Group (MTH), from European Capital S.A. SICAR, an affiliate of American Capital Ltd. Completion of the acquisition is subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities.

Tenova is a part of Techint, the privately held Italian headquartered industrial group. MTH is a leading international provider of industrial heat treatment technology and aftermarket services for heat treatment equipment utilised to treat finished metal components primarily in the aerospace, heat treatment, automotive and machine tooling industries. MTH is headquartered in Menden, Germany.

Baird served as the exclusive financial advisor to European Capital in the sale of the business. The Baird team was led by Joachim Beickler, Managing Director, in Frankfurt and by Vinay Ghai, Managing Director, in London, with assistance from colleagues in the US and Asia.

The successful completion of the deal underscores the value of Baird Investment Banking’s global platform, which uses a fully integrated, international team to provide comprehensive M&A and debt advisory services. In 2012, Baird advised on 166 financings and global M&A transactions totalling more than $43 billion.

Baird Managing Director Joachim Beickler, who led on the deal, said: ‘European Capital’s sale of MTH represents an important transaction for Baird Investment Banking, and highlights the global reach of our platform and the depth of our expertise in the core industrial technology sector’.

If you have plans to cover this news, we would appreciate you including Baird’s involvement.

If you would like further information, or would like to speak to a member of Baird’s transaction team, please contact James Isola/Alice Gledhill on +44 (0)207 367 5100 [email protected] or [email protected].

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Clairvest Group, Clairvest Equity Partners IV Limited Partnership and Clairvest Equity Partners IV-A Limited Partnership have announced a combined US$15 million investment in County Waste of Virginia. County Waste is a private regional solid waste management company based in West Point, Virginia.

PRESS RELEASE

Clairvest Group Inc. (TSX:CVG) (“Clairvest”), Clairvest Equity Partners IV Limited Partnership and Clairvest Equity Partners IV-A Limited Partnership (collectively, “CEP IV”) today announced a combined US$15 million investment in County Waste of Virginia LLC (“County Waste” or, the “Company”). County Waste is a private regional solid waste management company based in West Point, Virginia. The Company provides residential, commercial, and industrial waste collection, processing and transfer services in central and parts of south eastern Virginia. Clairvest’s portion of the investment is US$4 million.

Scott Earl, CEO of County Waste, is Clairvest’s former partner at Hudson Valley Waste Holding, Inc.; a successful investment Clairvest exited in 2011 that generated a 2.0x multiple of capital and an IRR of 88%. County Waste is Clairvest’s third investment in the solid waste management industry, a core domain for Clairvest since 2005.

“We look forward to our partnership with Scott who is an experienced and successful entrepreneur. Scott is a best-in-class operator and proven business builder who sees significant opportunities for County Waste. Our equity investment will support County Waste in pursuing growth opportunities and building a regionally dominant solid waste company,” said Michael Castellarin, Managing Director of Clairvest.

County Waste is Clairvest’s 39th platform investment and the eighth investment by CEP IV. The Clairvest/CEP IV co-investment pool is capitalized at $467 million and focuses on equity investments in growth companies.

About Clairvest

Clairvest Group Inc. is a private equity management firm which invests its own capital, and that of third parties through the Clairvest Equity Partners limited partnerships, in businesses that have the potential to generate superior returns. In addition to providing financing, Clairvest contributes strategic expertise and execution ability to support the growth and development of its investee partners. Clairvest realizes value through investment returns and the eventual disposition of its investments.

Contact Information

Clairvest Group Inc.
Maria Klyuev
Director, Investor Relations and Marketing
(416) 925-9270
(416) 925-5753 (FAX)

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Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners has led the 5 million euro ($6.5 million) Series A financing of Allecra Therapeutics with its new fund BioDiscovery 4.

PRESS RELEASE

Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners announces the first investment of BioDiscovery 4, its fourth fund dedicated to Life Sciences, through its participation in the Series A financing round of Allecra Therapeutics, which it co-leads with Forbion Capital Partners. EMBL Ventures is also part of the syndicate.
Allecra was formed in 2013 in France and Germany, as a strategic partnership between Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Limited (Chennai, India), the founders – including Allecra’s CEO Nicholas Benedict – and the two lead investors. This Series A financing of €15 million euros will support early clinical development of two new antibiotic treatments designed to combat multi drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria.
Olivier Litzka, Partner at Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners and Board Director at Allecra commented: “Allecra’s strategic partnership with Orchid is an innovative collaboration bringing together Allecra’s strong development capability with Orchid’s track record in antibiotic research and manufacturing. Allecra is supported by a Scientific Advisory Board consisting of world-renowned experts and Allecra’s Board of Directors comprises key appointments of entrepreneurs and industrialists with records of success in this area.”
Olivier Litzka also added: “We are glad to see Allecra become the first investment of our fund Biodiscovery 4. After our successful experience in the anti-infectives space through the investment of the BioDiscovery funds in Novexel, we are convinced that Allecra has all the major ingredients for success.”
Nicholas Benedict, Co-Founder and CEO of Allecra added: “The formation of Allecra comes at a time when governments, non-governmental agencies and the medical community are crying out for urgent and decisive action to tackle “the epidemic of antibiotic resistance. Our mission at Allecra is to develop new treatments which overcome selected bacterial resistance and which can be used to treat patients whose infections may otherwise have disastrous consequences.”
About Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners
Paris-based Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners is the private equity affiliate of the Edmond de Rothschild Group which is specialized in asset management and private banking (EUR 130bn under management, 2,900 employees and 30 offices throughout the world). Founded in 1953, the Group has been chaired since 1997 by the founder’s son, Baron Benjamin de Rothschild.
Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners is dedicated to minority investments into privately-owned companies. It has currently close to €1 billion under management which is being invested primarily as life sciences venture capital and growth capital.
Its Life Sciences Team of eight professionals brings together over 60 years of experience in the Life Science industry and more than 100 years of private equity and venture capital experience. The team has €355 million under management through its Biodiscovery franchise.
BioDiscovery Funds, including BioDiscovery 4, are venture capital funds registered via the fast-track procedure. These funds are not authorized by the Autorité des marchés financiers and may adopt special investment rules. BioDiscovery 4, a Capital Venture Funds registered via the fast-track procedure, invests mainly in private companies, which involves specific risks such as a risk of capital loss, a discretionary management risk and a liquidity risk.
For more information please visit: www.edrip.fr.
About Allecra Therapeutics
Allecra, established in 2013, is a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel treatments to combat multi drug-resistant bacterial infections. It is based on a strategic partnership between its founders, Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Chennai, India) and its lead investors, Forbion Capital Partners and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners. ALLECRA’s mission is to contribute towards the global effort to combat antibiotic resistance by developing new treatments which overcome emerging resistance mechanisms, thereby saving lives of patients whose infections may otherwise be inadequately treated. ALLECRA is located in the European BioValley Life Sciences cluster, located in the Upper Rhein valley, encompassing northwest Switzerland, southeastern Germany and the Alsace Region of France.

Contacts

Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners
Olivier Litzka
[email protected]
+33 1 40 17 27 46 or +33 1 40 17 27 69

Allecra Therapeutics GmbH
Nicholas Benedict, Founder & CEO
+41 79 592 2005
[email protected]

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The Riverside Company has added Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based TerraSim to its Bohemia Interactive Simulations platform. Bohemia develops and provides games for training technology and interactive simulation systems for defense, emergency and mission-critical customers.

PRESS RELEASE

Add-on Expands Military Simulation and Virtual Training Specialist Bohemia Interactive

The Riverside Company has added Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based TerraSim, Inc. to its Bohemia Interactive Simulations s.r.o. (Bohemia) platform. Bohemia develops and provides games for training technology and interactive simulation systems for defense, emergency and mission-critical customers.

TerraSim delivers to Bohemia its elite capabilities in automated terrain generation software, which is a highly specialized niche. Bohemia customers will benefit immediately from this infusion of new technology, while the company will gain a platform for expanding both in its current defense markets and in new markets.

“TerraSim builds the world’s best terrain generation software,” said Riverside Partner Dr. Martin Scott, who leads Riverside’s Software and IT specialization in Europe. “This acquisition accelerates Bohemia’s technical capabilities and should open new opportunities for the company.”

Bohemia plans to retain operations at TerraSim’s Pittsburgh office, using existing software and database engineers and leadership while integrating the companies and capitalizing on the enhanced software capabilities for Bohemia’s products and services.

Bohemia makes fully interactive, three-dimensional training and simulation systems for military or commercial training and experimentation purposes, particularly for tactical training and mission rehearsal scenarios.

Bohemia was founded in 2001 in Australia, and has a central sales office in the U.S., part of the Team Orlando area of excellence for military simulation technology. In addition, Bohemia has major sales and operations offices in the UK, Australia, Czech Republic, and Poland, with plans for further international expansion.

Riverside has completed more than 20 software investments, and has a dedicated team of experts in the technology field.

“We were considering acquiring TerraSim even before the Riverside acquisition,” said Bohemia CEO Pete Morrison.“ They’re an exceptional company that brings outstanding technical knowhow. This immediately makes Bohemia a stronger and more capable company.”

Working with Scott on the transaction for Riverside were Principal Adam Pietruszkiewicz, Vice President Ludek Palata and Vice President Marcin Goszyk.

Lape Mansfield & Nakasian, LLC along with McGladrey, LLP advised Riverside on the investment.

The Riverside Company
The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm focused on acquiring growing businesses valued at up to $250 million (€200 million in Europe). Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 300 transactions. The firm’s international portfolio includes more than 75 companies.

Media enquiries:

CitySavvy
Soraya Atmani
+00 44 (0)20 7936 9161
[email protected]

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HitecVision has acquired Deep Sea Mooring. Deep Sea Mooring was established by Odfjell Drilling in 2008.

PRESS RELEASE

HitecVision is pleased to announce the acquisition of 100% of Deep Sea Mooring.
Deep Sea Mooring (DSM) was established by Odfjell Drilling in 2008. DSM has been
developed from an in-house mooring service provider to one of three providers of
mooring services to E&P companies and rig owners in Norway. The company offers
rental equipment, pre-lay mooring solutions and ancillary services and serves the
market through its locations in Mongstad and Kristiansund.
Simen Lieungh, CEO of Odfjell Drilling states: For 40 years Odfjell Drilling has been a
pioneer in the offshore drilling industry with a proven track record of establishing
and developing new businesses. We are proud of having developed Deep Sea
mooring to a stage where it has a strong potential on a stand-alone basis. We
believe in the future of the company, product and service portfolio and its competent
and dedicated team of people. Under HitecVision’s ownership, Deep Sea Mooring can
certainly become a potent player in the international mooring industry. We believe
HitecVision are the right owner to develop Deep Sea Mooring in the international
mooring industry.
Gunnar Halvorsen, Senior Partner of HitecVision, comments: “We are impressed by
the development of Deep Sea Mooring under Odfjell’s ownership, and are pleased to
have been entrusted by Odfjell to become the new owners of the company.”
Deep Sea Mooring, being a niche supplier of critical services to the oil and gas
companies, is a typical investment for HitecVision. We have followed and invested
in this segment before, and believe Deep Sea Mooring has great future potential. We
look forward to working with the company’s management to develop it further.
Åge Straume, Vice President of Deep Sea Mooring, adds: “We have had a great cooperation
with Odfjell as owner and customer, and look forward to a continued close
relationship. HitecVision as a new owner is welcomed by both Deep Sea Mooring
management and employees. We know HitecVision as a leading investor for our type
of company, with a strong track record in this segment, and we have noted the
success of previous investments. With this strong investor backing, we will be able
to grow Deep Sea Mooring further as the preferred supplier of high quality mooring
equipment, pre-lay mooring solutions and services to the oil and gas industry.
The transaction is subject to approval from relevant competition authorities
Contact persons:
Gunnar Halvorsen, Senior Partner HitecVision, mobile +47 91 83 39 06
Kjell Erik Endresen, Senior Partner HitecVision, mobile +47 98 20 66 53
About HitecVision
HitecVision is a leading investor in the international oil and gas industry with offices
in Stavanger, Oslo and Houston. The investment focus is on middle market
investments in oilfield services and technology companies, and exploration and
production (“E&P”) companies across the oil and gas value chain. HitecVision
manages four funds with more than $ 3 billion in assets under management.
About Odfjell Drilling
Odfjell Drilling is a privately owned international drilling, well service and
engineering company. We have been in involved in international drilling operations
since the early seventies. The company has 3000 employees and operates in 20
countries worldwide.

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UK-based Fits.me has announced total Series A investment in the company of close to 5 million pounds ($8 million). Series A investment has been subscribed by existing investor SmartCap, with new participation from Conor Venture Partners, Fostergate Holdings Limited and The Entrepreneur’s Fund.

PRESS RELEASE

Fits.me today announced total Series A investment in the company of close to £5 million. Series A investment has been subscribed by existing investor SmartCap, with new participation from Conor Venture Partners, Fostergate Holdings Limited and The Entrepreneur’s Fund.
Previously, in May 2009 and August 2010, the company received total seed and early-stage investment of just under £1.75m from Smartcap and angel investors, and £0.5m in grants.
Fits.me develops, markets and operates virtual fitting room solutions on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis for online clothing retailers, helping them to overcome the problems of low online conversion rates and high garment returns rates caused by doubt over fit and poor fit respectively.
The company counts many well-known retailers among its clients, including Adidas, Avenue32, Barbour By Mail, Boden, Ermenegildo Zegna, Hawes & Curtis, Henri Lloyd, Hugo Boss, John Smedley, L.K.Bennett, Mexx, Nicole Farhi, Otto, Pretty Green, Superdry and Thomas Pink.
Fits.me will use the new funding to support accelerated Sales and Marketing programmes – including international expansion into the France, Germany, other EU countries and the USA – and to continue to scale up its Operations to meet predicted demand.
Conor Venture Partners’ Manu Mäkelä said: “While large swathes of retailing already takes place online, there are sectors for which the real online growth has yet to come. Apparel is chief among those sectors, primarily because buying clothes is such a subjective process – most obviously when it comes to ‘fit’. Fits.me has a sophisticated solution that works, delivers provable results, is easy for retailers to deploy and has been signed up by a growing band of respected retailers and brands, on an international basis. From an investor’s point of view, there is tremendous growth potential.”
In February 2013 the company launched Fit Advisor, a complementary version of the company’s flagship Fits.me Virtual Fitting Room solution which delivers fit information and recommendations without the need for photography.
Heikki Haldre, co-founder and chief executive at Fits.me, said: “We are in a market that has started to move very quickly as retailers look to overcome their high street difficulties by focusing on online performance. It should be clear to everyone that we mean to do very good business by helping online clothing retailers to solve one of their most pressing problems.”
[ends]
About Fits.me
Fits.me’s virtual fitting room solutions helps boost the revenues and the profitability of online clothing retailers by enabling them to overcome the online fit problem, increasing conversions and reducing garment returns.
The subjective nature of “fit” as it applies to clothing and fashion has inhibited online apparel sales for years – in 2012 the overall proportion of garment sales from online channels was still only 14-15%. The essential problem is the inability of shoppers to try on clothes to check the fit before they choose their size, while ‘fit’ is a matter of personal preference rather than mathematics. According to Mintel, widespread inconsistencies in sizing between different brands and retailers make online clothes shopping a challenge for six in ten shoppers.
At the heart of Fits.me’s software-as-a-service solution are sophisticated robotic mannequins, both male and female, with artificial muscles that enable it to mimic any size or shape of body. To populate the database of any given brand or retailer, these mannequins are dressed in representative items from the retailer’s range, in each available size. Each permutation of garment/size is then photographed while the robotic mannequin morphs through thousands of body shapes, whether for a dress or a shirt. The output of this process is a comprehensive image database – and, for each image, the precise dimensions of the mannequin are recorded.
On a retailer’s site, Fits.me displays the photograph from the database that shows exactly how the garment the shopper is looking at will fit their body size and shape, simply by asking that shopper for a few common measurements.
With further clicks, the shopper may check how they will look wearing other sizes, before choosing the size that fits them the way they like it. The Fits.me Virtual Fitting Room will even alert the shopper to where the fit of the chosen garment may be wrong – for example, in arm length or collar size – just as a shop assistant would do in a bricks-and-mortar store.
Data from online clothing retailers using Fits.me shows an improvement in conversion rates of up to 62% compared to shoppers using a traditional size chart and a reduction in returns for reasons of fit of up to 77%.
# # #

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The Carlyle Group, in partnership with Palamon Capital Partners, has acquired DBG Limited. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The sale represents an exit for Synova Capital.

PRESS RELEASE

Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) and Palamon Capital Partners today announced the acquisition of DBG (UK) Limited (“dbg”) from Synova Capital. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Operating for over 20 years, dbg is a specialist healthcare support services provider of training, compliance support, engineering services, materials and equipment. Using a membership-based model, dbg works alongside over 8,000 dental, GP and veterinary practices throughout the UK, and is headquartered in Winsford, Cheshire.

Eric Kump, Managing Director at Carlyle said “dbg is a well-established business delivering clear benefits to its members, customers and suppliers. Carlyle and Palamon have a strong track record in this sector, having acquired Integrated Dental Holdings (“IDH”) in 2011. While the two businesses will be part of the same investment vehicle, dbg will remain independent and will benefit from the expertise of the investors.”

Jonathan Heathcote, Partner at Palamon, added “The existing management team has done a great job of delivering strong business performance and we look forward to building on this in the future as we explore the further growth opportunities in this sector.”

Speaking on the transaction, Managing Director of dbg, Kanesh Khilosia, commented “We are delighted to be partnering with Carlyle and Palamon. They strongly support our strategy to continue to grow and diversify dbg’s services and support our members whose interests remain first and foremost. Carlyle and Palamon bring a wealth of sector experience, which will build upon that of the existing management. The prospect of greater co-operation with IDH, which operates the largest healthcare practise network in the UK, will significantly add to our ability to provide a superior, cost effective service to our members.”

Philip Shapiro, Managing Partner at Synova commented “We are very pleased with the completion of our successful investment in dbg. Since we acquired dbg in 2010, the membership base has more than doubled and profits have trebled. We thank the dbg management team and staff for their valuable contribution and hard work. Carlyle and Palamon have a clear vision and ability to continue this growth.”

-Ends-

Enquiries

The Carlyle Group
Catherine Armstrong [email protected]
T: +44 20 7894 1632

Palamon Capital Partners
Jonathan Heathcote [email protected]
Annette Wilson [email protected]
T: +44 20 7766 2000

Synova Capital
Philip Shapiro [email protected]
T: +44 (0)20 7491 5705
Notes to editors

About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global alternative asset manager with $170 billion of assets under management across 113 funds and 67 fund of fund vehicles as of December 31, 2012. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pension funds. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Market Strategies and Fund of Funds Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs 1,400 people in 33 offices across six continents.

Web: www.carlyle.com
Videos: www.youtube.com/onecarlyle
Tweets: www.twitter.com/onecarlyle
Podcasts: www.carlyle.com/about-carlyle/market-commentary

About Palamon Capital Partners
Palamon Capital Partners, LP is an independent private equity Partnership founded in 1999, which is focused on providing equity for European growth services companies. Palamon, as a pan-European investor, originates, executes and manages investments in the UK, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, France, and Germany. The Firm targets investments in companies where it can achieve double digit growth and where the Partnership’s experienced principals can provide strategic direction and support to help build equity value. The Firm manages Palamon European Equity, L.P. and Palamon European Equity II, L.P., capitalised at €1.1 billion dedicated to growth investment opportunities in Europe’s lower mid-market.

For more information on Palamon refer to www.palamon.com

About Synova Capital
Synova invests in smaller UK growth opportunities with a particular focus on companies valued at between £5m and £30m. Key verticals include Business Services, Software & IT Services, Consumer & Leisure and Healthcare & Education.

For more information on Synova Capital refer to www.synova-capital.com

Alex Bowden
Partner

41 Dover Street London W1S 4NS
T: +44 (0)20 7491 5711 F: +44 (0)20 7491 5706 M: +44 (0)7971 677 330 E: [email protected]
www.synova-capital.com

DISCLAIMER: This communication may contain privileged or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this message in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Synova Capital LLP. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the original message.

Synova Capital LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Synova Capital LLP is a limited liability partnership. Registered in England No. OC329299
Registered office: 41 Dover Street, London W1S 4NS

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Imperial Capital, a full service investment banking firm, has hired five equity sales professionals. They are Anthony Greer, managing director; Anthony Reiner, managing director; Philip Minardo, senior vice president; Yves Lefebvre, senior vice president and Dustin Sanza, vice president.

PRESS RELEASE

Imperial Capital, LLC (“Imperial Capital”), a full service investment banking firm, announced today the Firm’s continued expansion efforts with the hiring of five equity sales professionals. With parallel growth in its fixed income sales & trading franchise, Imperial Capital continues to strengthen its capital structure sales and trading platform for institutional clients.
“We were looking for established equity sales professionals to help take our equities business to the next level,” said Jason Reese, CEO of Imperial Capital Group. “With our recent hiring, we bring on veteran talent in equity capital market sales which will complement our existing franchise. Senior Wall Street professionals continue to join our team in recognition of the strength of our institutional sales & trading, research, capital markets and investment banking platform.”
Joining Imperial Capital’s Equity Sales team are five professionals significantly adding equity sales expertise to the franchise: Anthony Greer, Managing Director; Anthony Reiner, Managing Director; Philip Minardo, Senior Vice President; Yves Lefebvre, Senior Vice President and Dustin Sanza, Vice President.
Mr. Tony Greer joins Imperial Capital as a Managing Director in New York providing senior equity sales expertise with over 20 years of industry experience. Most recently, Mr. Greer was with Dahlman Rose & Co. in Institutional Equity Trading. Prior to Dahlman Rose, Mr. Greer was the Head of the US Agency Equity Desk at Bank Hapoalim in New York. Mr. Greer has ten years of currency and commodity trading experience at Goldman Sachs and UBS. Mr. Greer earned a BS degree from Cornell University.
Mr. Tony Reiner is a Managing Director in the Equity Sales Group in NY and brings over 20 years of event driven experience to Imperial Capital’s franchise. Prior to joining Imperial Capital, Mr. Reiner was a Sales Trader at Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. Prior to Cantor Fitzgerald, Mr. Reiner spent most of his career on the buy side including time as a Portfolio Manager at Richmond Capital and Searock Capital, and launching his own Event Driven Hedge Fund, D/R Asset Management, which later merged into Harbert Management and became the Harbert Management Event Driven Fund. Mr. Reiner received a BA from Johns Hopkins University.
Mr. Philip Minardo joins Imperial Capital as a Senior Vice President in its New York Equity Sales Group. Most recently, Mr. Minardo was a Sales Trader at Wall Street Access. In recent years, Mr. Minardo has held equity capital markets positions with Ticonderoga Securities LLC, S.J. Levinson & Sons LLC and Albert Fried & Company. Mr. Minardo earned a BA from the Catholic University of America.
With over 15 years of industry experience, Mr. Yves Lefebvre joins Imperial Capital as a Senior Vice President in Equity Sales in New York. Most recently, Mr. Lefebvre was a Director, International Research Equity Sales and Sales Trader at Soleil Securities Inc. Prior to Soleil, Mr. Lefebvre was a Principal in International Equity Sales at ThinkEquity Partners, LLC. Mr. Lefebvre also launched the European Institutional Sales Group of Brean Murray & Co. Mr. Lefebvre started his career in financial markets in Brussels (Belgium) as an interest-rate derivatives trader for Credit Commercial de France (CCF). Mr. Lefebvre has a Master in Business Engineering from ICHEC Brussels Management School in Belgium.
Mr. Dustin Sanza joins Imperial Capital as a Vice President, Equity Sales in Boston. Since 2007, Mr. Sanza was in Equity Sales at Wedbush Securities. Prior to Wedbush, Mr. Sanza was a Financial Advisor at Waddell & Reed. Mr. Sanza earned a BS from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
About Imperial Capital, LLC
Imperial Capital, founded in 1997, is a full-service investment banking firm with offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Boston, and Chicago. The firm currently employs over 230 professionals and offers a wide range of proprietary products and services to institutional investors, middle market companies, and private equity firms. Imperial Capital provides institutional clients research and sales and trading of high yield and distressed debt securities, bank debt, convertible bonds, preferred stocks, and equities. The firm provides middle market companies and financial sponsors with capital markets, merger and acquisitions, capital structure, restructuring and recapitalization advisory services.

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Fusebill, a provider of automated, flexible and affordable subscription billing and payment solutions, has secured a $2 million investment led by OMERS Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Canadian pension plan OMERS. Covington Capital also participated in the investment.

PRESS RELEASE

Fusebill, a leading provider of automated, flexible and affordable subscription billing and payment solutions, is announcing a $2 million investment led by OMERS Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest pension plans. Covington Capital Corp., one of Canada’s largest providers of venture capital investment funds, also participated in the investment.
This financing will provide Fusebill with the necessary capital to execute its strategy, and position itself as a significant player in the growing small-to-mid market SaaS billing and analytics space.
“Fusebill provides our customers a simple way to manage the complexities of subscription billing and invoicing. We are thrilled with the support of OMERS Ventures and Covington Capital – the investment provides us the resources to continue our rapid expansion,” says Steve Adams, CEO of Fusebill.
Fusebill’s online software automates invoicing, billing and collections of subscription and recurring revenue for small and medium businesses. With the increasing adoption of SaaS and mobile technologies within the enterprise, many businesses are turning toward subscription-based business models hosted in the cloud. As this shift occurs, billing services will become core to the online operations of these organizations. Fusebill typically replaces manual processes and homegrown systems, and helps clients manage the customer lifecycle: selling new products and add-ons, renewals and upgrades and targeted offers based on individual customer characteristics.
“Fusebill fills a big gap for small and medium-sized businesses that in the past haven’t been able to access or afford this kind of technology. This, combined with a very experienced management team which has achieved great success together in the past, makes Fusebill a very compelling investment for OMERS Ventures,” says Derek Smyth, Managing Director of OMERS Ventures.
“We expect our customer base, which includes Silanis, Conceptshare and Nuvio, to grow significantly over the next two years as subscription business models become more prevalent,” says Fusebill’s Adams. Leading IT research firm Gartner expects that, by 2015, more than 40% of companies selling media and digital products will rely entirely on subscription management systems to manage their customer lifecycle.
“Fusebill is positioned to be a market leading recurring billing platform for the small-to-medium market. We are excited to partner with Fusebill’s complementary management team and OMERS Ventures in building this business,” says Matt Hall, SVP Investments of Covington Capital.
About Fusebill
Fusebill (Twitter: @fusebill) automates invoicing, billing and collections for subscription based companies. Ideal for both B2B and B2C businesses, our customers span many industry sectors, including software as a service, digital media, and communications. Our customers rely on Fusebill to reduce their costs, speed their cash collections, and extend their customer lifecycles. You can learn more and visit Fusebill at www.fusebill.com.
About OMERS Ventures
OMERS Ventures (Twitter: @OMERSVentures) is the venture capital investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest pension funds with almost $61 billion in net assets. It is an initiative of OMERS Strategic Investments (OSI), an investment entity with a mandate to build long-term strategic relationships with like-minded partners. As both an institutional angel investor and a later-stage investor, OMERS Ventures is looking for successful companies with significant growth potential and market opportunities. We are seeking like-minded partners with a shared vision of building a vibrant and successful knowledge economy. For more information please visit http://www.omersventures.com/.
About Covington Group of Funds
Established in 1994, Covington Capital Corporation is one of Canada’s largest providers of venture capital investment funds. Managing close to $400 million in assets, Covington provides Canadians with the ability to access venture capital investment opportunities via their suite of retail venture capital product offerings. www.covingtonfunds.com.

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Cooley has appointed Wendy C. Goldstein to the firm as a partner in its health care and life sciences regulatory practice. Goldstein, who will be based in Cooley’s New York office, was previously a partner at Epstein Becker & Green.

PRESS RELEASE

Cooley LLP announced today that Wendy C. Goldstein has joined the firm as a partner in its Health Care and Life Sciences Regulatory practice. Goldstein, who will be based in Cooley’s New York office, was previously a partner at Epstein Becker & Green, where she chaired that firm’s Health Care and Life Sciences practice as well as its Pharmaceutical Industry Health Regulatory practice group.
Goldstein uses her industry-wide perspective to advise senior management and boards of directors regarding the impact of federal and state legislation and enforcement activity on business models. Her practice focuses on counseling clients regarding the research, manufacture, sale promotion, distribution, pricing and import/export of pharmaceuticals, biologics and medical devices, as well as representing manufacturers on various regulatory matters, drafting and negotiating agreements and conducting health regulatory due diligences. She defends pharmaceutical manufacturers in all phases of government investigations and counsels third-party payors in connection with the outpatient prescription drug benefit programs offered under insured and self-insured products.
“Wendy’s experience counseling pharmaceutical companies on fraud and abuse, reimbursement, government investigations and FDA matters will complement, support and deepen our current offering to clients around the country,” said Barbara Kosacz, head of Cooley’s Life Sciences practice. “As the spheres of life sciences, health care and technology become all the more closely interlinked, we strive to offer clients the most comprehensive, interdisciplinary and well-informed advice available.”
“Our momentum in New York will only be strengthened by Wendy’s arrival,” said Jim Fulton, partner in charge of Cooley’s New York office. “She is a life sciences and regulatory practitioner of the absolute highest caliber. We’re thrilled to welcome Wendy to our leading health care and life sciences regulatory practices and look forward to building great things together on the East Coast and nationally.”
Thus far in 2013, seven partners have joined Cooley, including tax partner Michael Faber who joined Cooley’s New York office from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in March.
“It’s great to be joining such a vibrant firm,” said Wendy Goldstein. “Clients throughout the combined life sciences and health care sectors are facing myriad challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving environment. Cooley truly understands the advantages for clients of having such a deep-seated and holistic approach throughout their life cycle — delivering technological advances, commercial successes and protecting both. This is especially important in such a dynamic and complex legislative and regulatory environment that now defines this country’s life sciences and health care sectors.”
Goldstein received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan; her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center and her Masters in Public Health from the University of Texas Health Science Center.
About Cooley LLP
Cooley’s 700 attorneys have an entrepreneurial spirit and deep, substantive experience, and are committed to solving clients’ most challenging legal matters. From small companies with big ideas to international enterprises with diverse legal needs, Cooley has the breadth of legal resources to enable companies of all sizes to seize opportunities in today’s global marketplace. The firm represents clients across a broad array of dynamic industry sectors, including technology, life sciences, health care, venture capital, clean energy, real estate and retail.
The firm has full-service offices in eleven major business and technology centers: Boston, MA; Broomfield, CO; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Palo Alto, CA; Reston, VA; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Washington, DC; and Shanghai, China.
Contact Information
Thomas Freeman
Email Contact
212-479-6514

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Steve Elefant has joined GoPago, to lead the growth in new channels and further develop GoPago LIVE, an all-in-one cloud POS with an integrated mobile payments platform. Elefant was formerly a senior strategic consultant at Google in the payments group and was also managing director of Soaring Ventures, a private equity investment and strategic consulting firm.

PRESS RELEASE

Steve Elefant joins GoPago, Inc. to lead the growth in new channels and further develop GoPago LIVE, an all-in-one cloud POS with an integrated mobile payments platform.
“For more than two decades, Steve Elefant has been a leader in the payments industry. We are excited to have him leading our strategy and ISO partnerships as we build the best-in-class total cloud commerce solution,” said Leo Rocco, GoPago Founder and CEO. “Steve’s experience, knowledge and vision are exactly in line with the future of GoPago. Steve and I will work on the most robust suite of products including an mPOS, ecommerce and an open (SDK) platform.”
Mr. Elefant said, “I have looked at all of the solutions and without a doubt, GoPago has the most robust commerce platform on the market today. I look forward to working with the team as we lead this payments and Point of Sale revolution and roll out an even more comprehensive solution.”
Mr. Elefant has over 25 years experience in overall company strategy, products, end to end encryption, mobile, business development and mergers and acquisitions. Most recently, Elefant was a Senior Strategic Consultant at Google, Inc. in the Payments group. Prior to Google, Mr. Elefant was CIO of Heartland Payment Systems. Mr. Elefant has founded several successful startups, including Payment Processing Inc, ICVerify and was Managing Director of Soaring Ventures, a private equity investment and strategic consulting firm.
ABOUT GOPAGO
GoPago, Inc. is an all-in-one, ‘commerce in the cloud’ platform revolutionizing the way merchants and consumers transact. GoPago LIVE is a cloud point of sale with a fully integrated mobile payments platform that connects merchants with consumers, enabling interaction throughout the entire transaction. GoPago LIVE is delivered to merchants as a turn-key solution: all the hardware (tablet, receipt printer, cashbox, credit card reader), cloud-based software, payment processing, 4G LTE data connectivity, and a streamlined interface for mobile and in-store purchases. Merchants can access real-time data analytics straight from the tablet or via a web portal, empowering merchants to act on business insights anytime, anywhere.

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