Author: Iris Dorbian

Change.org said on Tuesday that it has received a $15 million round of financing led by Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam. Uprising, an investment fund based in San Francisco, also participated in the round. Omidyar Network will hold a minority stake in the company. Also, Chris Bishko, an investment partner at Omidyar Network, will join Change.org’s Board of Directors. Change.org is a petition platform.

PRESS RELEASE

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Change.org, the world’s largest petition platform and a certified benefit corporation, announced Tuesday that it has secured a $15 million round of investment led by Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investment firm established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam. Omidyar Network will hold a minority stake in the company, and Chris Bishko, investment partner at Omidyar Network, will join Change.org’s Board of Directors. Uprising, a mission-aligned investment fund based in San Francisco, is also participating in the investment round.
Omidyar Network seeks to catalyze broad, positive social impact by funding both for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations around the world. The firm’s portfolio includes for-profits such as the world’s largest network of local groups, Meetup, as well as nonprofits such as the microlending site Kiva.
“Omidyar Network is pleased to make this investment in Change.org,” said Omidyar Network’s Managing Partner Matt Bannick. “We are particularly enthused to support an organization that so effectively uses technology to give people opportunities to connect around issues of personal importance and take actions that can significantly improve their communities.”
Change.org seeks to empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see, and the site’s users have won thousands of victories. Prominent wins have included Bank of America dropping its $5 debit card fees, Seventeen magazine committing not to photoshop its models, and Trayvon Martin’s parents ensuring their son’s killer was prosecuted.
“We are honored to receive investment from such deeply mission-driven investors,” said Change.org’s Founder and CEO Ben Rattray. “Omidyar Network’s mission of empowerment aligns perfectly with ours, and we’re thankful to their leadership in growing the impact investment sector over the past decade.”
“Social enterprises can play an instrumental role in solving some of the world’s biggest problems,” Rattray said. “This funding will help us continue to expand our empowerment tools internationally while innovating on new products with the potential for disruptive social impact.”
Change.org has grown exponentially in the past year, climbing from 6 million users in early 2012 to more than 35 million users today, more than half of whom are now outside the United States. Three million new users join the site each month, making Change.org the world’s largest and fastest-growing petition platform. In April, Change.org received the Webby Award for best activism website.
Change.org is a certified B corporation, meaning it is held to high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency set by B Labs, an independent certifying group. To learn more about Change.org’s business model, use the contact details at the top of the release.

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Blue Wolf Capital Partners and Atlas Holdings said on Tuesday that they have reached an agreement to acquire Twin Rivers Paper Company from Brookfield Asset Management. No financial terms were disclosed. Twin Rivers is a specialty paper company with facilities in Madawaska, Maine, and Edmundston and Plaster Rock, New Brunswick.

PRESS RELEASE

Edmundston, NB, and Madawaska, ME –Blue Wolf Capital Partners and Atlas Holdings today announced that they have reached an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Twin Rivers Paper Company, Inc. (“Twin Rivers”) from Brookfield Asset Management Inc. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The transaction is expected to close in approximately three weeks, allowing time for certain procedural requirements. Blue Wolf and Atlas, both New York-based private investment firms, have long track records of building forest products companies inNorth America.
Twin Rivers, with facilities in Edmundston and Plaster Rock,New Brunswick, and Madawaska,Maine, has been a vital economic engine for the region for over 80 years, producing specialty papers and lumber for a variety of markets. Through the acquisition of a controlling stake in Twin Rivers, Atlas and Blue Wolf are showing their commitment to the future of the business, and will work with the company in the development of its long-term capital and growth plans.
“Twin Rivers produces specialty papers and lumber products that are well regarded throughout the industry. Our plan is to build on these strengths as we seek to position the operations for long-term success and as a key contributor in the revitalization of the forest products sector inMaine and New Brunswick,” saidAdam Blumenthal, Managing Partner of Blue Wolf.
“With the active support, direction and guidance our firms bring, we believe we can provide Twin Rivers with additional resources to address its capital needs, cost structure, market exposure and other critical operational challenges presented by the highly competitive forest products industry,” saidTim Fazio, Managing Partner of Atlas Holdings.
Twin Rivers is a major employer inNew Brunswick and northern Maine, and the acquisition was welcomed by a wide variety of constituencies.
“We have a proud history in our forest sector and certainly recognize the strategic importance of the Twin Rivers operation. The local communities and our entire forest sector value the jobs and role that Twin Rivers plays. We are excited to have new partners such as Atlas and Blue Wolf invest in the Province and commit to growing this operation and working with us as we continue to rebuild our economy,” said David Alward, Premier of New Brunswick.
“We welcome Blue Wolf and Atlas to our State,” added Maine Governor Paul LePage. “These investors have a track record of successful change in forest products companies, and we look forward to working with them as they implement their strategy.”
Dave Coles, President of the Canadian Energy and Paperworkers Union, which represents workers at Twin Rivers’ operations in Edmundston and Plaster Rock, New Brunswick said, “We have long represented workers at companies owned by Atlas and Blue Wolf, and we know them to be thoughtful and creative investors who are committed to the industry. We will work with the new ownership to protect jobs and pensions for our active and retired members.”
“We welcome this change of ownership, to a group we know well,” said Jon Geenen, International Vice President of the United Steelworkers, which represents workers at Twin Rivers’ Madawaska, Maine paper mill. “We expect the new owners will be dedicated to ensuring the sustainability of this company into the future.”
Together, Blue Wolf and Atlas Holdings have a depth of experience in successfully collaborating with stakeholders to build investee companies into sustainable, highly competitive enterprises in both Canada and the United States – including, Northern Resources Nova Scotia Corporation (“Northern Resources”), a pulp mill located in Pictou, Nova Scotia, and Finch Paper Holdings LLC, an integrated pulp and paper business located in Glens Falls, New York.
Separately, Atlas Holdings has been investing and operating in the forest products, packaging and paper industries since 1999. Atlas currently owns approximately 30 locations in North America, Europe andAsia focused on these markets, employing more than 5,000 people. Blue Wolf has been investing in the forest products industry since 2007, and currently owns seven companies in the United States, primarily manufacturing businesses, including two building products companies.
“Twin Rivers has been vital to the region’s economy for over 80 years, and we want to ensure it continues to be,” said Blumenthal. “We look forward to working with all stakeholders to create a viable, stable and long-term future for Twin Rivers and the forestry sector in both countries.”

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Hurel Corp., a provider of advanced artificial tissue constructs and microfluidic cell-based assay platforms, has named Dr. James S. MacDonald to its board of directors. Hurel recently secured a $9.2 million Series A equity private placement led by Spring Mountain Capital. Hurel is based in both North Brunswick, NJ and Beverly Hills, Calif.

PRESS RELEASE

North Brunswick, NJ, May 21, 2013 –Hurel Corporation (“Hurel”), a world-leading provider of advanced artificial tissue constructs and microfluidic cell-based assay platforms, today announced the appointment of James S. MacDonald, PhD, DABT to the Company’s Board of Directors. Dr. MacDonald is the former Executive Vice President of Preclinical Development of the Schering-Plough Research Institute (“SPRI”), which was the pharmaceutical development arm of Schering Corporation prior to its acquisition by Merck & Co. in 2009.
Over a career that has spanned more than three decades, Dr. MacDonald has brought hundreds of drug candidates into development, over thirty of which have become globally registered, major drugs, including Vasotec®, Zocor®, Primaxin®, Clinoril®, Prilosec®, Fosamax®, Clarinex®, Nasonex®, Vytorin®, and Victrelis®, among others. Dr. MacDonald joined SPRI in 1994 as Senior Vice President, Drug Safety and Metabolism, and, over the next 14 years up until the time of the Merck acquisition, he played a leading role in building one of the most distinguished and effective drug development organizations in the world. As co-chairman of SPRI’s Early Development Committee, he directed the movement of drug candidates from discovery research into and through the development process. Previously Dr. MacDonald held positions of increasing responsibility at Merck, including Executive Director of Toxicology. He received his Ph.D. in toxicology in 1975 from the University of Cincinnati and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University. He became a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology in 1980.
“Jim MacDonald’s track record of getting pharmaceuticals approved by FDA and onto the market speaks for itself,” said Robert Freedman, Hµrel’s Chairman and CEO. “Hµrel is privileged to benefit from Jim’s extraordinary wisdom and experience, both as a scientist and as a drug development executive. His guidance will be invaluable. We welcome Jim to the Board as a colleague and friend.”
About Hurel
Hurel Corporation, based in North Brunswick, NJ and Beverly Hills, CA, is a world-leading provider of advanced artificial tissue constructs and microfluidic cell-based assay platforms which are used by biotech and pharmaceutical research organizations in pre-clinical drug development, as well as in the toxicological testing of industrial materials and consumer products. The Company recentlyannounced a $9.2 million Series “A” equity private placement led by Spring Mountain Capital, of New York. Funds from the transaction will provide working capital to support the current commercial launch of the Company’s products and the continuing research and development of its technologies and future products.
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ConsultingMD, an online service that provides health care, said on Tuesday that it has received a $10 million round of funding from Venrock. The funding is to help ConsultingMD further develop its digital technology bringing patients together with physicians.

PRESS RELEASE

ConsultingMD Raises $10 Million from Venrock To Change The Practice of Medicine Funds To Drive Patient-Centered Care Through Expansion of Most Prestigious Physician Network; Cutting Edge “Virtual Clinic” Technology
San Francisco, CA, May 21, 2013— Consumers and businesses are reimagining healthcare through a technology that’s changing the practice of medicine. ConsultingMD announces a $10 million round of funding from Venrock to further develop its breakthrough technology enabled service platform bringing the patients together digitally with doctors and to expand its network of prestigious medical experts.
“We chose Venrock because they are far and away the leading venture firm for healthcare IT and they share our commitment to advancing patient-centered care,” said Owen Tripp, CEO and co-founder of ConsultingMD. “We have already established the most exclusive network of experts in their fields. With Venrock’s support, we will grow our team to provide more online and mobile solutions to enable these doctors to provide lifesaving opinions and care.”
ConsultingMD created a completely new technology platform that creates a “virtual clinic” where experts in the network find a comprehensive 360-degree digital profile of a patient’s history and medical records. Once a patient starts a case, the ConsultingMD platform collects and digitizes all medical records, and pages a request to the best expert for the case. The records are presented in reverse chronological order and annotated to convey the full picture of the patient’s care and diagnosis to date. These profiles slash the research and assessment time for doctors to provide a conclusive opinion. While a normal in-person consultation might take as many as three months to conduct, the ConsultingMD experts return an opinion in an average of 48 hours.
The ConsultingMD physician network is comprised of top 0.1 percent of experts in each field including the chiefs and chairs of many of the major medical research universities. Physicians must be invited by an existing ConsultingMD physician and are thoroughly vetted by an internal panel of doctors. The ConsultingMD virtual clinic provides the most leveraged way for a physician to spend time on a case and provides specialized physicians with access to unique cases that benefit their research.
“The ConsultingMD physician network is comprised of the ‘who’s who’ of the medical community and represent a collective state-of-the-art knowledge base for patient care. Combining this network with proprietary technology, ConsultingMD has liberated this vast store of medical expertise, making it available to all consumers on demand, thereby improving the lives and health of their customers,” said Bryan Roberts, partner at Venrock and new board member of ConsultingMD.
Businesses are tapping ConsultingMD as a unique benefit offering for employees. More than half of all corporate executives (55 percent) named healthcare benefits as their biggest business challenge, according to Adecco SA. Ten percent of employer-provided healthcare costs are due to misdiagnosis and improper treatment. Top physicians, like the network of experts at ConsultingMD, are known to offer more accurate diagnoses, leading to cost savings for both the patient and their employer.
Owen Tripp and Bryan Roberts will take the stage as the opening keynote at HealthBeat on Tuesday, May 21 at 8:50am PT at the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco, Calif. For more information, please visit, http://venturebeat.com/events/healthbeat2013/agenda/.
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About ConsultingMD
ConsultingMD is dedicated to providing access to state-of-the-art medical information and opinions from the world’s top physicians to the people who need it most and to the businesses that want to provide the best care for their employees. By presenting the whole patient digitally, ConsultingMD streamlines the diagnosis process and enables anyone to reach the experts for the most current medical expertise saving time, money and lives. For more information, please visit www.consultingmd.com and follow @ConsultingMD.
About Venrock
Venrock is a leading venture capital firm with offices in Palo Alto, CA; New York, NY; and Cambridge, MA. Originally established as the venture capital arm of the Rockefeller family, Venrock continues an eight-decade tradition of partnering with entrepreneurs to establish successful, enduring companies. With a primary focus on technology and healthcare, portfolio companies have included Adify, Adnexus Therapeutics, Apple Computer, Athenahealth, Centocor, Check Point Software, DoubleClick, Gilead Sciences, Idec Pharmaceuticals, Illumina, Intel, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Sirna Therapeutics, StrataCom, and Vontu. For more information, please visit Venrock’s website at www.venrock.com and follow the firm on Twitter at @venrock.

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Swipely, a Providence, RI-based merchant account provider, said today that it has raised $12 million in Series B financing led by Shasta Ventures. Existing investors First Round Capital, Greylock Partners and Index Ventures also joined the round. The funding is to help Swipely expand both its merchants’ network and nationwide growth.

PRESS RELEASE

PROVIDENCE, R.I.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Swipely, the simple way for local merchants to accept payments, understand customers and grow revenue, today announced it has completed a $12 million Series B round of financing. Shasta Ventures led the investment and was joined by existing investors First Round Capital, Greylock Partners and Index Ventures. The Series B funding will help Swipely expand its network of merchants and accelerate its nationwide growth.
Since entering the payments space in June 2012, Swipely has enjoyed widespread adoption, now managing more than $700 million in annual sales for merchants in 130 cities and towns throughout the U.S., and unlocking insights into nearly 2 million customers.
This round brings Swipely’s total venture financing to $20.5 million, and comes on the heels of the company being named to Forbes’ 100 list of “America’s Most Promising Companies” and one of the “Best Places to Work in Rhode Island” by Providence Business News. The financing is the largest Series B venture investment in a software company in Rhode Island history.
An Online Operating System for Local Commerce
95% of commerce happens offline. Since launching Swipely’s payments platform in June 2012, the company has grown rapidly to bring local merchants the same tools that e-commerce companies use to better understand customers through shopping data to grow sales.
“We are excited to be part of a company that finally brings the power of data to the offline world, ultimately translating into happy customers and more revenue,” said Sean Flynn, Partner at Shasta Ventures. “It’s a major innovation in payments and marketing for small business, and we hope it will transform the way merchants understand and engage with their customers.”
“Swipely replaces legacy merchant payment and marketing approaches with a powerful online operating system for local commerce to make smarter, faster business decisions,” said Angus Davis, founder and CEO of Swipely. “We empower hundreds — and soon thousands — of leading small businesses with actionable insights to help them succeed and grow.”
Swipely merchants reach from the West Village in New York City to SOMA in San Francisco, and everywhere in between. Since upgrading to Swipely, these businesses have unlocked shopping data to:
Learn how new versus repeat customers contribute to sales
Build a customer database with profiles for every card-paying customer
Measure how online marketing campaigns impact offline sales
Launch trackable loyalty programs that bring customers back
Swipely is a good fit for merchants that accept at least $30,000 in monthly credit card sales. To see how your business can better understand customers and grow sales, visit swipely.com or call 888-SWIPELY.
Bringing A Silicon Valley Spark to the Ocean State
Swipely will use its funds to grow the team across all functional areas, including engineering, sales and marketing, finance and administration. Swipely is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, where it is a bellwether among a growing ecosystem of high-tech companies leading a renaissance in the Ocean State’s long challenged economy.
Swipely offers outstanding career opportunities with competitive compensation and benefits, an award-winning office culture and the opportunity to work and win as part of a world-class team. It’s an exciting time to join Swipely. To learn more about current openings, visit http://swipely.theresumator.com/
About Swipely
Swipely is a simple way for local merchants to accept payments, understand customers and grow revenue. Swipely’s valuable payments, analytics and marketing tools work with systems merchants already have and with cards consumers already use. Merchants use Swipely to manage 700 million dollars in sales and to deepen relationships with over 2 million customers.
Founded by Angus Davis and named to the Forbes Magazine 100 list of “America’s Most Promising Companies,” the Providence, RI based company includes veterans of Tellme, Microsoft, LivingSocial and SeamlessWeb, and is backed by leading Silicon Valley investors including Shasta Ventures, Index Ventures, Greylock Partners, and First Round Capital, among others.

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Highland Capital Management, L.P., said on Tuesday that it has named Jun Park as director of business development in Korea. Prior to joining Highland, Park worked at Woori Financial Principal Investment in Seoul. Highland is an investment management firm based in Dallas.

PRESS RELEASE
DALLAS, May 21, 2013 – Highland Capital Management, L.P. (“Highland”), a Dallas-based investment management firm, which together with its affiliates has approximately $18 billion in assets under management, today announced the appointment of Jun Park as a Director of Business Development, Korea.
Mr. Park is responsible for business development and investor relations support in Korea. He reports to Paul Adkins, Managing Director of Business Development (Asia-Pacific region), and is based in the firm’s Seoul office.
“Jun’s hire shows Highland’s deep commitment to the Asia-Pacific region,” said Mr. Adkins.
“His experience in alternative investments strengthens our team and our ability to provide top-tier investment solutions and service for our clients.”
Mr. Park has more than 10-years of experience in global alternative investments. Prior to joining Highland, he worked at Woori Financial Principal Investment in Seoul, where he was responsible for establishing fund structures and managing over $1 billion in private equity assets in a range of categories including mezzanine debt, buy-outs, real estate, and infrastructure investments in the UK, US and Korea. Prior to Woori, Mr. Park worked at The Blackstone Group. He started his career at Salomon Brothers Asset Management in New York City. Mr. Park received his B.A. in Accounting from Syracuse University.
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About Highland Capital Management
Highland Capital Management is an SEC-registered investment adviser which, together with its affiliates, has approximately $18 billion of assets under management. Founded in 1993 by Jim Dondero and Mark Okada, Highland is one of the largest and most experienced global alternative credit managers. Highland’s strategies include collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), high yield bonds, distressed credit, public and private equities, structured products and natural resources.

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Morgan Creek Capital Management said on Tuesday that it will buy Signet Capital Management‘s Alternative Funds business. No financial terms were disclosed. Under current management, Signet’s Alternative Funds has approximately $700 million in assets. As part of the acquisition, the senior management team at Signet, which include Founder Robert Marquardt, and CEO Dr. Serge Umansky, will join Morgan Creek and continue their current roles. Signet Capital Management Ltd. is a European institutional fixed income investment firm.

PRESS RELEASE

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Morgan Creek Capital Management today announced it has reached an agreement to acquire the Alternative Funds business of Signet Capital Management Ltd., an award-winning European-based institutional fixed income investment firm. Signet’s Alternative Funds business has approximately $700 million in assets under management.
Under the agreement, Signet will contribute its funds and senior investment management team to Morgan Creek’s platform, where they will apply their global fixed income experience for the benefit of Morgan Creek clients. Robert Marquardt founded Signet, which is well known in the European institutional investor community, in 1993.
The current senior management team at Signet—including the firm’s Founder and Co-Head of Investment Management, Mr. Marquardt, and CEO and Co-Head of Investment Management, Dr. Serge Umansky—will join Morgan Creek and continue their current roles serving clients of Signet’s funds as well as complementing Morgan Creek ‘s fixed income capabilities. Signet’s offices in London, and Lausanne, Switzerland, will become part of Morgan Creek ‘s global network.
“We are excited to have Bob, Serge and the entire Signet team join Morgan Creek , a union that will benefit both our present and future clients,” said Mark W. Yusko , the Chief Investment Officer of Morgan Creek . “This agreement represents a major achievement in our overall strategy to expand our global footprint and bring on talented investment professionals to help address the increasingly complex global investment environment.”
” Morgan Creek is a tremendous investment firm that holds the same values and investment philosophies that we do,” said Mr. Marquardt. “We look forward to adding value by integrating our extensive fixed income expertise with Morgan Creek ‘s well-respected endowment style of investing.”
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter and is subject to the required regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. Signet Capital Management Ltd. is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and the agreement to acquire Signet Capital Management Ltd. is subject to the approval of the Financial Conduct Authority.
About Morgan Creek Capital Management
Morgan Creek Capital Management is a global investment management firm focused on active investment management with a long-term investment philosophy and firmly believes in the Endowment style of investing for helping clients achieve their objectives. Consistent with the Endowment Model, Morgan Creek maintains exposures across the investment spectrum, from traditional equities and fixed income to alternatives such as hedge funds, private equity real estate and venture capital. With the collective experience of its senior investment team, Morgan Creek was an early pioneer of the “Outsourced Investment Office.”
Upon close of the transaction, the global firm will add offices in London and Lausanne, Switzerland to its current offices in Chapel Hill, N.C., New York, Singapore, and Shanghai. More information on Morgan Creek’s investment team and strategies is available at www.morgancreekcap.com.

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Graycliff Partners said on Tuesday that Iron Mountain, an information management and storage provider, has bought Information Storage Consolidation Company (ISCC). No financial terms were disclosed. Information Storage Consolidation is a records storage company with facilities in Texas, Michigan and Florida. Prior to Iron Mountain’s acquisition, Graycliff had a majority stake in ISCC.

PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Graycliff Partners LP (“Graycliff”), a middle market investment firm focused on private equity and mezzanine investments in the US and Latin America, announced that Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM), a provider of storage and information management services, has acquired Information Storage Consolidation Company (“ISCC”), a records storage business with operations in Texas, Michigan, and Florida. Graycliff held the majority ownership of ISCC at the time of the acquisition. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, ISCC is a leading provider of outsourced document services, including physical storage, storage services, destruction and imaging to customers throughout the Southern and Midwestern United States in industries such as healthcare, business services, financial and legal.
“It has been a privilege to work with Ron Harper and the ISCC management team in building a leading document storage business that services a diverse group of industries across the country,” said Andrew Trigg, Managing Director, Graycliff Partners. “ISCC has provided exceptional service to its expanding list of customers, and now, Iron Mountain will carry on that legacy of meeting the information needs of our customers.”
“Graycliff worked closely with the management team to grow its competitive position through investments in operations and customer relationships,” said Duke Punhong, Principal, Graycliff Partners.
“Graycliff has been a great partner in facilitating the growth and expansion of ISCC by providing the necessary resources and operational and strategic planning expertise,” said Ron Harper, CEO of ISCC. “With the full backing of Graycliff Partners, ISCC has demonstrated significant growth, market share gains and customer satisfaction. We are excited about sale of our records management businesses to Iron Mountain. Our customers can continue to expect secure storage, attentive service and expert advice.”
About Graycliff Partners LP
Graycliff Partners is an independent investment firm focusing on lower middle market private equity and mezzanine investments in the United States and Latin America. Graycliff Partners LP is an SEC-registered investment advisor under the US Investment Advisors Act of 1940, as amended. Since 1991, the Graycliff Partners team, previously operating as HSBC Capital, has invested over $1 billion and completed over 80 transactions. With offices in New York and São Paulo, Graycliff Partners seeks to partner with companies led by strong, entrepreneurial management teams, providing capital for acquisitions, management buyouts, recapitalizations, growth and expansion. For more information about Graycliff Partners visit www.graycliffpartners.com.

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US Debt Ventures said on Monday that it has received a $100 million revolving credit facility from a major financial institution that has not been identified. The credit facility will help US Debt Ventures to expand its non-performing loan and REO disposition model. US Debt Ventures is a private-equity firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

PRESS RELEASE

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–US Debt Ventures, a private equity firm that has acquired over $750MM in non-performing loans to date, today announced that it has secured a $100 million revolving credit facility from a major financial institution. The facility gives US Debt Ventures increased capacity to further expand its successful non-performing loan and REO disposition model. The firm expects to surpass $1 billion in total portfolio purchases in 2013 and following the close on this financing facility, US Debt Ventures plans to deploy committed capital through national non-performing loan and REO portfolio acquisitions.
Todd Billings, CEO of US Debt Ventures recently stated, “We are pleased with the successful completion of securing this credit facility. This financing represents a significant milestone for US Debt Ventures. Securing this line of credit gives us the flexibility to acquire additional assets in a highly attractive environment. The securing of attractive debt financing also validates our success as an owner and manager of distressed mortgage and REO assets. This level of commitment from a large financial institution represents a vote of confidence in our performance and the strength of our company.”
With the real estate market on the rise and an influx of international dollars, the firm’s focus has remained the same. CEO, Todd Billings and the USDV team of professionals maximize returns by pursuing the best risk-adjusted work-out strategy on a loan by loan basis on behalf of their investors, while helping borrowers to clean up their negative credit through realistic, yet creative solutions. “USDV’s strategy is to continue to be a leading manager within this specialized market,” stated Billings.
ABOUT U.S. DEBT VENTURES
U.S. Debt Ventures is a private-equity firm based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida led by Todd Billings and sponsored by a group of high net worth investors. The company focuses on acquisitions of distressed whole loans and real estate. For more information, please contact 800.716.2370 or visit www.usdebtventures.com.

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Pactera Technology, a global consulting and technology services provider in China, said on Monday that its board  has received a “going private” proposal to acquire all shares of Pactera from Blackstone and the company’s management. The bid is valued at $7.50 per American Depositary Share in cash. Reuters is valuing the deal at $680 million. Blackstone is acting as advisor for the proposal while Citigroup Global Markets is serving as financial advisor to Pactera’s executive team.

PRESS RELEASE
BEIJING, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Pactera Technology International Ltd. (Nasdaq: PACT) (“Pactera” or the “Company”), a global consulting and technology services provider strategically headquartered in China, today announced that its board of directors has received a non-binding proposal letter dated May 20, 2013 from an affiliate of funds managed or advised by Blackstone, the Company’s non-executive Chairman, Chris Chen , its Chief Executive Officer, Tiak Koon Loh , and its Executive Committee members, David Chen , Sidney Huang and Jun Su (collectively, the “Buyer Consortium”) to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Pactera not currently owned by the Buyer Consortium in a going private transaction (the “Transaction”) for US$7.50 per American Depositary Share (“ADS”, each ADS representing one common share of the Company) in cash, subject to certain conditions.
According to the proposal letter, the Buyer Consortium intends to form an acquisition vehicle for the purpose of implementing the Transaction, and the Transaction is intended to be financed with a combination of equity capital funded by the Buyer Consortium and third-party debt. A copy of the proposal letter is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
The Company expects that its board of directors will form a special committee consisting of independent directors (the “Special Committee”) to consider this proposal. The Company also expects that the Special Committee will retain a financial advisor and legal counsel to assist it in its work. The Company cautions its shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that the Company has just received the non-binding proposal and no decisions have been made with respect to the Company’s response to the proposal. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is acting as financial advisor to the Consortium. Ropes & Gray LLP is acting as U.S. counsel to the Buyer Consortium, with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP acting as U.S. counsel to the senior management members in the Buyer Consortium mentioned above. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is acting as the Company’s U.S. counsel.
About Pactera
Pactera Technology International Ltd. (NASDAQ: PACT), formed by a merger of equals between HiSoft Technology International Limited and VanceInfo Technologies Inc., is a global consulting and technology services provider strategically headquartered in China. Pactera provides world-class business / IT consulting, solutions, and outsourcing services to a wide range of leading multinational firms through a globally integrated network of onsite and offsite delivery locations in China, the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Pactera’s comprehensive services include business and technology advisory, enterprise application services, business intelligence, application development & maintenance, mobility, cloud computing, infrastructure management, software product engineering & globalization, and business process outsourcing.
For more information about Pactera, please visit www.pactera.com.

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Payvia, a mobile and online payment company, said on Monday that it will buy Mogreet. No financial terms were disclosed. Also, Mogreet Founder and CEO James Citron will serve as payvia’s Chief Marketing Officer. Mogreet is a cloud-based communications platform that is based in Venice, Calif. Pavia, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in San Francisco, Seattle and Boston, is a portfolio company of Silver Lake Sumeru, Montgomery & Co., and Trinity Ventures.

PRESS RELEASE
LOS ANGELES, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — payvia, the leader in direct carrier billed mobile payments, today announced its strategic acquisition of Mogreet, an innovative mobile video and rich media messaging engagement solutions provider that is used by thousands of marketers, retailers, small businesses and developers including major brands such as Cox Media Group, Emmis Communications and Gamefly. The full Mogreet team will join payvia, with Mogreet Founder and CEO James Citron serving as payvia’s Chief Marketing Officer.
The acquisition is significant as it will set payvia apart from the rest of the mobile industry with a simplified solution that increases revenues for businesses through highly targeted mobile payment transactions and relevant ongoing engagement via branded communications, offers and mobile relationship management.
“Our mobile payments offer resonates strongly with the market because it is built on our proprietary carrier connected technology that gives us a unique ability to understand consumer mobile usage,” said Darcy Wedd , CEO, payvia. “Our clients have told us they also need a simpler way to link targeted mobile transactions to their marketing campaigns. By integrating Mogreet’s solutions on our platform we answer that need. As the only company to solve a known disconnect between traditional mobile commerce and engagement solutions, payvia is well positioned to increase mobile’s share of the $252 billion* e-commerce market.”
payvia operates the largest direct carrier connected messaging and mobile payments platform in the U.S., engaging with 120 million unique mobile users and processing billions of mobile messages every year. The company has paid out to merchants and developers worldwide more than $2 billion in global mobile commerce revenues.
Clients of payvia and Mogreet can expect the following benefits from the acquisition:
Mogreet’s clients can expect faster message throughput and up to 2x higher mobile video quality through payvia’s directly connected carrier infrastructure
International reach through payvia’s global messaging footprint via direct carrier connections in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific
Mogreet’s cloud-based video and rich messaging technology will be integrated into payvia’s industry-leading mobile payments platform
The Mogreet API will become a core component of the payvia payments API providing simple access to cross-platform mobile payments, rich media and video messaging, via SMS, MMS and in-app messaging
payvia will continue to support all Mogreet’s customers and expand upon its existing service offering
Commenting on the importance of the acquisition, Sam Brown , chief operating officer of Organizing for Action, and former finance chief of staff of President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign said: “During the 2012 Presidential Election, we drew on payvia’s mobile payments expertise and high capacity messaging infrastructure to empower millions of Americans to make their voices heard by contributing to Obama for America, and also supporting our historic get-out-the-vote effort. We look forward to payvia’s new combination of rich media, a dynamic, extensible engagement platform, and robust carrier infrastructure to help more and more Americans organize in support of the agenda they voted for in November 2012.”
Angie May Cook , vice president, Emmis Digital, also commented: “We believe that mobile engagement will be the driving force of radio’s digital revolution. Mobile devices provide the perfect distribution platform for consumers to take the utility of radio everywhere they go and the capability to communicate with our audiences one to one. payvia and Mogreet’s unique combination of dynamic mobile messaging and secure mobile payments will enable us to explore new opportunities in radio advertising by connecting audio commercials with mobile advertising and mobile payments to provide advertisers with a direct connection to purchase on the mobile device.”
“Businesses of all sizes are looking for better ways to engage with their increasingly mobile customer base to drive awareness, interest and most importantly, revenue. For the first time ever, marketers and merchants will now have a way to connect with their customers using text, picture and video messaging, but also to drive an immediate transaction via the simplest mobile payments platform in the industry,” said James Citron , CEO of Mogreet.
*Forrester Research Mobile Commerce Forecast 2012-2017 (US)
About payvia
payvia is a leading mobile and online payments company that allows consumers to make simple and secure payments via their mobile phone. By connecting directly to the carrier network, payvia enables consumers to pay for digital goods and services using their mobile phone, adding purchases directly to their carrier bill. Visit us at www.usepayvia.com. payvia is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in San Francisco, Seattle and Boston. payvia is backed by leading investors Silver Lake Sumeru, Montgomery & Co., and Trinity Ventures.
About Mogreet
Founded in 2006, Mogreet is the leading cloud-based communications platform enabling businesses to engage with their mobile consumers using rich media, video and text messaging. The company’s products include, an Enterprise CRM platform powering the largest marketers’ video and rich media messaging campaigns, a small business marketing platform used by thousands of small businesses to deliver MMS, and a developer toolkit enabling developers to integrate Mogreet’s proprietary technology into their applications. Mogreet is headquartered in Venice, California. Learn more at www.mogreet.com

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Zyme Solutions said on Monday that it has received new financing. No financial terms were disclosed. Zyme, a provider of cloud-based solutions that is based in Redwood Shores, Calif., is a portfolio company of Susquehanna Growth Equity.

PRESS RELEASE

REDWOOD SHORES, CA–(Marketwired – May 20, 2013) – Zyme Solutions, the leading provider of cloud-based channel data solutions announced that it has accepted new equity financing to accelerate growth in response to the rapidly expanding demand for its solutions.
Chandran Sankaran, Founder and CEO of Zyme explained, “We have experienced a dramatic increase in customer acquisition rates over the past year — a trend being driven by the inability of home-grown channel data management systems to cope with the increasing appetite for sales visibility within organizations. As product companies attempt to consume channel sales and inventory data to run their businesses, they are unable to keep pace with the complexity and quality problems inherent in this data. Zyme’s channel data management platform — which already receives, cleanses and enriches data from tens of thousands of distributors, retailers and resellers in 180 countries — has quickly become a very attractive option for them.”
Earlier this month, Zyme accepted an equity investment from Susquehanna Growth Equity, LLC (SGE) of Bala Cynwyd, PA. The funds will be used to further scale the company’s software platforms and customer service capabilities to keep pace with the growing demand for its solutions.
“Our core investment thesis focuses on finding extraordinary founder-led companies that have outsized customer loyalty and retention rates and which are being built to last. Zyme overachieves on all those dimensions,” said Amir Goldman, Managing Director of SGE. “We had the opportunity to speak with many of Zyme’s customers, and were struck by the value they derive from the data that Zyme delivers to them, and their uniform praise of Zyme as one of the best vendors they have ever dealt with — both in terms of delivering solutions that work, and their extraordinary customer focus.”
Deriving value from previously inaccessible or unusable business data is part of a much broader market trend. Global research and advisory firm Forrester Research recently wrote, “Every company generates data that would be of significant value… information that could be combined with insights from this ecosystem, public data and other sources to generate significant new discoveries, products and business values. But making… data available [and] easily consumable… are significant hurdles.”[‘Is Your Data Working For You?’ April 2013 James Staten Blog, Forrester Research, Inc.]
“Technology companies sell over a trillion dollars worth of products through their reseller and retail channels and many have begun to understand the enormous business value of rapid and accurate intelligence about when, where and to whom their goods are being sold,” Sankaran added. “Our mission remains to solve this problem for the industry and usher in a new era of smarter channel management.”
About Zyme Solutions
Zyme is the leading provider of channel data solutions for global technology companies, enabling Smarter Channel Management for industry leaders. Zyme offers cloud-based SaaS applications and managed services for multi-tier channel visibility, which seamlessly integrate with CRM and ERP systems such as Salesforce.com, SAP and Oracle. On behalf of product companies, Zyme collects and delivers cleansed, enriched and verified channel sales and inventory data from thousands of distributors, retailers and resellers in 180 countries, and improves mission-critical business processes including revenue recognition, incentive payments, partner network management, sales commissioning, and supply chain planning. For more information, contact Zyme at 1-877-262-8993 or visit www.zymesolutions.com.
About Susquehanna Growth Equity
Susquehanna Growth Equity, LLC (SGE) is a private equity group investing in growth capital and buyout opportunities in software, information services, internet and payments companies. SGE’s team of dedicated investment professionals brings a unique set of experience combining venture investing with operational expertise. For additional information, please visit www.sgep.com.

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Greenbriar Equity Group has received a $89.5 million loan from GE Antares, a unit of GE Capital Markets, to acquire EDAC Technologies Corp. GE Capital Markets acted as joint lead arranger of this transaction. EDAC, which is based in Cheshire, CT., is a provider of aerospace components.

PRESS RELEASE
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–GE Antares, a unit of GE Capital, announced today it is serving as administrative agent for a $89.5 million senior credit facility to support Greenbriar Equity Group’s acquisition of EDAC Technologies Corporation. GE Capital Markets acted as joint lead arranger and sole bookrunner.
“We view GE Antares as an excellent choice to lead our debt financing for EDAC Technologies,” said Rob Wolf, director at Greenbriar Equity. “GE Antares has a great understanding of the debt financing markets, ensuring superior execution, and through their Access GE program they can help us tap into GE’s deep knowledge and experience in the aerospace market.”
EDAC is a United States-based company with headquarters in Cheshire, Connecticut. It has six diversified divisions in southern New England.
“We’re excited to be leading another financing for Greenbriar Equity and starting a relationship with EDAC Technologies,” said Douglas Cannaliato, managing director at GE Antares. “Greenbriar Equity has extensive aviation industry expertise resulting from their exclusive focus on the global transportation industry which we are confident will provide real value to EDAC Technologies’ already strong and experienced management team.”
EDAC Technologies is a diversified manufacturer of precision machined components, and supplier of tooling, spindle manufacturing and machine repair services, primarily for gas turbine engine applications in the commercial aerospace, military and industrial markets.
About Greenbriar Equity
Greenbriar Equity Group LLC, a private equity firm with $1.5 billion of committed capital, focuses exclusively on the global transportation industry, including companies in aerospace and defense, automotive, freight and passenger transport, logistics and distribution, and related sectors. Greenbriar invests with proven management teams who are interested in being significant equity owners in their companies as well as with corporate partners who are interested in raising capital. Greenbriar’s partners bring many decades of experience at the highest levels within the transportation industry. Additional information may be found at www.greenbriarequity.com.
About GE Antares Capital
GE Antares is a unit of GE Capital, Americas. We are builders, not bankers. With offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, GE Antares is a leading middle market lender, offering a “one-stop” source for GE’s lending and other services offered to middle market private equity sponsors. For more information, visit the GE Antares website at geantares.com.
About GE Capital
GE Capital offers consumers and businesses around the globe an array of financial products and services. For more information, visit www.gecapital.com or follow company news via Twitter (@GECapital).
GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ge.com.

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Pantheon said on Monday that it will team up with Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) in an initiative to increase hiring of minority applicants in private equity. As part of this initiative, Pantheon has offered a multi-year financial pledge to SEO. Pantheon has also committed to offer summer internships in its New York office to SEO program participants. And through participation in SEO events and workshops, Pantheon will seek to encourage more minority college undergraduates to become interested in careers in private equity. SEO is a nonprofit educational and career development organization that helps young people from underserved and underrepresented communities.

PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK, May 20, 2013—Pantheon, a leading global private equity fund investor, today announced that it will partner with non-profit Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) in an initiative designed to both further advance minority hiring at the firm and increase the pool of minority candidates interested in careers in the private equity industry.
Pantheon has made a multi-year financial pledge as well as a commitment to offer summer internships in its New York office to SEO program participants. In addition, through active participation in SEO events, including educational workshops, Pantheon will seek to help encourage more minority college undergraduates to become interested in careers in private equity.
SEO continues to expand its footprint in the alternatives sector through diversity initiatives at the undergraduate, full-time analyst and experienced professional level. This joint initiative provides undergraduates with career access to unique paid summer analyst positions in private equity, enabling them to gain invaluable skills and experience.
Partnering with SEO advances an existing commitment at Pantheon to diversity. Currently, 15% of Pantheon’s U.S.-based employees, including a quarter of the New York office, are from underrepresented minority groups, a significant increase from 6% three years ago. In addition, a third of Pantheon’s U.S. senior staff (VP and above) are female, up from a quarter five years ago.
Said Yokasta Segura-Baez, Principal of U.S. Client Services and Business Development at Pantheon: “In partnering with SEO, we hope to not only increase our own minority hiring of qualified candidates but also reach a far broader audience of college undergraduates so that they can get excited about careers in private equity even well before they begin to make career decisions in college. We believe that if we can get to these students sooner in their academic careers we can increase minority representation in
Martina Marshall-Edwards, Director of Alumni & Alternative Investments Programs at SEO said: “We are delighted to partner with Pantheon on our Alternative Investments Program. This partnership directly addresses the questions, “How do we develop the pipeline of talent? How do we educate talent at the undergraduate level?” By providing underrepresented young professionals access to internship positions, Pantheon is tapping into the next generation of high-achieving talent earlier than many of itscounterparts. This recruitment approach is very unique for the private equity industry, and we’re really excited about it.”
Pantheon is a leading global private equity and infrastructure fund investor that invests on behalf of over 400 institutional investors. Established over 30 years, Pantheon has developed a strong reputation and track record in primary and secondary private asset solutions across all stages and geographies. Pantheon’s investment solutions include customized separate account programs, regional primary fund programs, secondaries, co-investment and infrastructure programs.
Pantheon has $24 billion in AUM and over 180 employees, including over 70 investment professionals, located across offices in London, San Francisco, New York and Hong Kong.
For more information, go to www.pantheon.com.
Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1963 with a mission to provide academic enrichment and career development opportunities to talented young people from underserved and underrepresented communities.. SEO provides services through three major programs: SEO Career, SEO Scholars, and SEO Alternative Investments.
Over the past five decades, SEO has grown into an established and highly effective organization with over 10,000 alumni operating programs across many cities in the United States and worldwide – in the United Kingdom, China, Vietnam, and now Africa. SEO programs serve over 1,000 young people each year, helping them develop throughout high school, college and their careers. SEO Career recruits, trains and mentors outstanding college students of color for summer internships that lead to full-time jobs with investment banks, corporate law firms and other leading global companies. More information can be found on SEO’s website at www.seousa.org.

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Vista Equity Partners has acquired Websense. Terms of the agreement call for Websense shareholders to receive $24.75 per share in a cash transaction valued at approximately $1 billion. San Diego-based Websense is cyber security company. BofA Merrill Lynch provided financial advice to Websense. J.P. Morgan Securities, RBC Capital Markets and Guggenheim Partners are providing debt financing.

PRESS RELEASE
SAN DIEGO, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Websense, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN) a global leader in protecting organizations from the latest cyber-attacks and data theft, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners (“Vista”), a leading private equity firm focused on investments in software, data and technology-enabled businesses.
“After detailed discussions with several potential acquirers, the Websense board of directors is pleased to approve this agreement,” said John Carrington, chairman of the Websense board of directors. “It provides stockholders with immediate and substantial cash value that reflects our assessment of the fair value of the company.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Websense stockholders will receive $24.75 in cash for each share of Websense common stock they hold, representing a premium of approximately 29 percent over Websense’s closing price on May 17, 2013 and a 53 percent premium to Websense’s average closing price over the past 60 days. The Websense board of directors unanimously recommends that the company’s stockholders tender their shares in the tender offer.
“Vista shares a similar vision for the company, including a dedication to developing and delivering best-in-class cyber security to our customers,” said John McCormack, Websense CEO. “Vista brings an operational discipline that will enable us to continue to invest in the business and technology innovation.”
“We are long-term investors in enterprise software and data companies that are committed to being leaders in their markets,” said Robert F. Smith, CEO and founder of Vista Equity Partners. “We are impressed with Websense’s market-leading product suite and the compelling value proposition it offers to its customers. We look forward to working with the company to enable it to reach its full potential.”
Upon closing, Websense will become a privately held company. Websense senior management is expected to continue with the company and its headquarters are expected to remain in San Diego.
Under the terms of the agreement, an affiliate of Vista will commence a tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of the Websense common stock. Closing of the transaction is conditioned upon, among other things, satisfaction of a minimum tender condition, clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, receipt of funding under the financing agreements (solely with respect to the tender offer) and other customary closing conditions. In the event that the minimum tender condition is not met, and in certain other circumstances, the parties have agreed to complete the transaction through a one-step merger after receipt of stockholder approval. Websense expects the transaction to close before the end of the third quarter of 2013.
BofA Merrill Lynch is serving as financial advisor to Websense. Cooley LLP is acting as Websense’s legal advisor. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as Vista’s legal advisor. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, RBC Capital Markets and Guggenheim Partners have agreed to provide debt financing in connection with the transaction.
For further information regarding all terms and conditions contained in the definitive merger agreement, please see Websense’s Current Report on Form 8-K, which will be filed in connection with this transaction.
About Websense, Inc.
Websense, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN) is a global leader in protecting organizations from the latest cyber attacks and data theft. Websense TRITON comprehensive security solutions unify web security, email security, mobile security and data loss prevention (DLP) at the lowest total cost of ownership. Tens of thousands of enterprises rely on Websense TRITON security intelligence to stop advanced persistent threats, targeted attacks and evolving malware. Websense prevents data breaches, intellectual property theft and enforces security compliance and best practices. A global network of channel partners distributes scalable, unified appliance- and cloud-based Websense TRITON solutions. Websense TRITON stops more threats, visit www.websense.com/proveit to see proof. To access the latest Websense security insights and connect through social media, please visit social.websense.com. For more information, visit www.websense.com and www.websense.com/triton.
About Vista Equity Partners
Vista Equity Partners, a U.S. based private equity firm with offices in San Francisco, Chicago and Austin, currently invests over $7 billion in capital committed to dynamic, successful technology-based organizations led by world-class management teams with long-term perspective. Vista is a value-added investor, contributing professional expertise and multi-level support towards companies realizing their full potential. Vista’s investment approach is anchored by a sizable long-term capital base, experience in structuring technology-oriented transactions, and proven management techniques that yield flexibility and opportunity in private equity investing. For further information please visit www.vistaequitypartners.com.

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Univar, a global chemicals distributor, said on Thursday that it has acquired Quimicompuestos, a leading Mexico-based distributor of commodity chemicals. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. A portfolio company of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and CVC Capital Partners, Univar has more than 260 facilities in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and Latin America, with additional sales offices in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

PRESS RELEASE
16 MAY 2013
REDMOND, Wash. and MONTERREY, Mexico – May 16, 2013 – Univar Inc., a leading global distributor of chemistry and related services, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Quimicompuestos, a leading distributor of commodity chemicals in Mexico. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Quimicompuestos is a leading chemical distributor in Mexico. The company has strong relationships with over 50 key suppliers, and delivers over 100 products to more than 4,500 customers in 25 diverse end markets. The company is well positioned in Mexico, with a nationwide distribution network and strong expertise in high growth industries.
“We are extremely pleased to announce the acquisition of Quimicompuestos,” said Erik Fyrwald, President and Chief Executive Officer of Univar. “Quimicompuestos provides a strong commodity business with reach throughout Mexico and is a recognized leader in key industries driving the region’s growth including those like Oil & Gas and Coatings & Adhesives. The combination provides a platform for future growth and enables us to offer our customers and suppliers the complete, end-to-end value proposition with both specialty chemical and commodity offerings.”
“Univar is an excellent partner for Quimicompuestos,” said Edmundo Sillas Vidal, President and Chief Executive Officer of Quimicompuestos. “The combination will create many synergies by providing enhanced services for our customers, access to a broader base of chemical manufacturers and products, and opportunities to leverage the global capabilities of Univar.”
About Quimicompuestos
Quimicompuestos was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico. The company’s 17 locations provide a broad, nationwide infrastructure. They currently partner with over 50 key suppliers and serve more than 4,500 customers in diverse end markets. Quimicompuestos distributes over 100 products from its facilities, including a range of thinners, aromatics, aliphatics, alcohols, ketones, esters, glycols, glycol ethers, monomers, blends, and acids.
About Univar
Univar is one of the world’s leading distributors of industrial and specialty chemicals. Univar represents over 3,500 chemical producers and provides its customer base, made up of 115,000 customers, with a full portfolio of products. Univar operates a global network of more than 260 facilities in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and Latin America, with additional sales offices located in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In 2011, Univar reported sales of $9.7 billion. For more information, visit: www.univar.com.

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Summit Investments said on Friday that it has launched Polar System, which is is designed to gather 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day, in Williams County, North Dakota. Summit Investments (or Summit Midstream Partners, LLC) owns a 69% limited partnership stake in Summit Midstream Partners, LP, which is focused on exploring energy assets in North America. Summit Investments is headquartered in Dallas, TX with offices in Houston, TX, Denver, CO and Atlanta, GA.

PRESS RELEASE
DALLAS, May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Summit Midstream Partners, LLC (“Summit Investments”), the privately held company that owns and controls the general partner of Summit Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: SMLP) and owns a 69.1% limited partner interest in SMLP, announced today that it has commenced operations of the Polar Crude Oil and Water Gathering System (the “Polar System”) in the Bakken Shale Play in Williams County, North Dakota. The Polar System is designed to gather 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day and 25,000 barrels of water per day from the Bakken and Three Forks shale formations in North Dakota. The Polar System includes approximately 50 miles of crude oil gathering pipeline and 35 miles of water gathering pipeline. Crude oil gathered on the Polar System is delivered to the COLT Hub Terminal in Epping, North Dakota under long-term, fee-based gathering agreements. Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. is the anchor customer on the Polar System.
Steve Newby , President and CEO of Summit Investments commented, “The start-up of the Polar System is a key milestone for Summit as it diversifies our service offerings and provides much needed gathering infrastructure in the region. We are excited about the potential of the Polar System given its strategic location in one of the largest and fastest growing crude oil basins in the United States.”
About Summit Midstream Partners, LLC
Summit Midstream Partners, LLC is a growth-oriented midstream energy company focused on owning and operating midstream energy infrastructure assets that are strategically located in the core areas of unconventional resource basins, primarily shale formations, in North America. Through its ownership of (i) Summit Midstream GP, LLC, the general partner of Summit Midstream Partners, LP; (ii) a 69.1% limited partner interest in Summit Midstream Partners, LP; (iii) a 100% ownership of Red Rock Gathering Company, LLC; and (iv) a 100% ownership of Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC, Summit Investments provides primarily fee-based natural gas gathering, treating, processing, and compression services, as well as crude oil and water gathering services supporting some of the largest oil and gas exploration and production companies in North America in the Piceance Basin in western Colorado, the Fort Worth Basin in north-central Texas, the Uinta Basin in eastern Utah, the Williston Basin in northwestern North Dakota, and the Denver-Julesburg Basin in northeastern Colorado. Summit Investments is headquartered in Dallas, TX with offices in Houston, TX, Denver, CO and Atlanta, GA.
Summit Investments was formed in 2009 by members of management and funds controlled by Energy Capital Partners II, LLC. Together with its affiliates, Energy Capital Partners is a private equity firm with over $7.5 billion in capital commitments that is focused on investing in North America’s energy infrastructure. In August 2011, Energy Capital Partners sold an interest in Summit Investments to GE Energy Financial Services. GE Energy Financial Services invests globally in essential, long-lived and capital-intensive energy assets.
For more information, visit Summit’s website at www.summitmidstream.com, Energy Capital Partners at www.ecpartners.com and GE Energy Financial Services at www.geenergyfinancialservices.com.
SOURCE Summit Midstream Partners, LLC

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Skyword has received $6.7 million in growth capital from a financing round led by Cox Media Group. In addition to Cox Media Group, Skyword is also backed by Allen & Company, Progress Ventures, and American Public Media Group. Skyword is a content marketing platform based in Boston.

PRESS RELEASE

BOSTON, MASS. — May 17, 2013 — Skyword, the leading platform for quality, original content production at scale, today announced it has closed $6.7 million in growth financing led by Cox Media Group. The investment will be used to expand the team and help scale the company to meet increasing customer and partner needs as content marketing becomes an integral part of brand marketing initiatives and digital content production for media companies.

“We see tremendous market opportunity for Skyword. With its powerful combination of visionary leadership, innovative technology, extensive writer network, and blue-chip customer successes, the company is poised for explosive growth as agencies, brand marketers and media companies increasingly look for ways to use quality, original content to reach and connect with consumers in a digital era,” said Shereta Williams, vice president of corporate development, Cox Media Group.

The Skyword Platform streamlines and automates the critical steps in the content creation and publishing process and provides marketers and publishers unmatched content intelligence. This includes the SEO scorecard assessment to ensure content will earn high search rankings, streamlined content promotion across various social channels, and the ability to track real-time search engine referral information so marketers can map content creation strategies to trending topics and stay ahead of industry developments. Skyword also collects search/social performance data, allowing users to continually improve content offerings based on the customers’ needs, and provides complete transparency into the editorial process with access to a network of thousands of professional freelance writers.

“We are in the midst of a perfect storm in the digital information era. Today’s converged media landscape and the evolving relationship between brands and consumers are driving marketers and publishers to rethink their tried-and-true strategies and invest in new technology solutions to better connect with customers,” added Tom Gerace, founder and CEO of Skyword. “Cox Media Group continues to be a strategic partner in our growth as we push to reshape the industry.”

Skyword’s Board of Directors is chaired by Jim Manzi, former CEO of Lotus Development Corporation and current chairman of Thermo Fisher, and includes: Shereta Williams, vice president of corporate development for Cox Media Group; Former Senator Bill Bradley, currently of Allen & Company; Bill Kling, founder and President Emeritus of American Public Media Group; and Tom Gerace, founder and CEO of Skyword.

About Skyword
Skyword delivers all that organizations need to reach and engage their audiences with quality, original content designed to succeed in search and social media. Quality content is essential for reaching and engaging consumers today, but the creation process is messy, inconsistent and immeasurable. The Skyword Platform makes it easy to produce, optimize and promote content at any scale to create meaningful, lasting relationships with customers. Skyword also provides access to a community of more than 20,000 professional writers, and its content strategy and editorial teams can help ensure the ongoing success of clients’ content programs. Skyword is a privately held, privately funded company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Investors include Allen & Company, Progress Ventures, Cox Media Group and American Public Media Group.

About Cox Media Group
Cox Media Group, Inc. is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company that includes the national advertising rep firms of Cox Reps. With $1.8 billion in revenue, the company operations include 15 broadcast television stations and one local cable channel, 85 radio stations, eight daily newspapers and more than a dozen non-daily publications, and more than 100 digital services. Additionally, CMG owns and operates Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in North America. For more information about Cox Media Group, please check us out online at www.coxmediagroup.com.

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Assisted Living Concepts announced on Thursday that its stockholders had approved TPG‘s previously announced plan to acquire the company. Under the agreement, ALC stockholders will receive $12 in cash for each share of Class A common stock while holders of ALC’s Class B common stock will receive $12.90 in cash per share. The transaction is expected to close this summer. Assisted Living Concepts is a Wisconsin-based operator of housing for senior citizens.

PRESS RELEASE
MENOMONEE FALLS, WI–(Marketwired – May 16, 2013) – Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. (NYSE: ALC) (“ALC”) announced that, at a special meeting of stockholders held earlier today, its stockholders voted to approve the previously announced merger agreement with affiliates of TPG. Under the terms of the merger agreement, ALC stockholders will receive $12.00 in cash for each share of Class A common stock. In accordance with the ALC charter, based on the Class A per share merger consideration, holders of ALC’s Class B common stock will receive $12.90 in cash per share.
According to a preliminary report of the inspector of election, more than 81 percent of the voting power of shares of ALC’s common stock held by all stockholders and more than 61 percent of the voting power of shares of ALC’s Class A common stock held by unaffiliated stockholders were voted in favor of approval of the merger agreement. Additionally, more than 77 percent of the voting power of shares of ALC’s common stock held by all stockholders voted in favor of the proposal to approve, on a non-binding, advisory basis, the compensation that may be paid or become payable to ALC’s named executive officers in connection with, or following, the consummation of the merger.
The acquisition is subject to the receipt of customary regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the summer of 2013.
About ALC
Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. and its subsidiaries operate 210 senior living residences comprising 9,313 resident units in 20 states. ALC’s senior living residences typically consist of 40 to 60 units and offer a supportive, home-like setting. Residents may receive assistance with the activities of daily living either directly from employees or through our wholly owned home health subsidiaries. ALC employs approximately 4,600 people.
About TPG
TPG is a leading global private investment firm founded in 1992 with $54.5 billion of assets under management and offices in San Francisco, Fort Worth, Austin, Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Paris, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. TPG has extensive experience with global public and private investments executed through leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, spinouts, growth investments, joint ventures and restructurings. The firm’s investments span a variety of industries including real estate, healthcare, financial services, travel and entertainment, technology, energy, industrials, media and communications, retail and consumer. For more information, visit www.tpg.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Statements about the expected timing, completion and effects of the proposed merger and all other statements made herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, these forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “expect”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “continuing”, “believe” or “project”, or the negative of those words or other comparable words. Any forward-looking statements included herein are made as of the date hereof only, based on information available to ALC as of the date hereof, and, subject to any applicable law to the contrary, ALC undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Such forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are subject to a number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause ALC’s actual results to differ from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include: any conditions imposed on the parties in connection with consummation of the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement; the ability to obtain regulatory approvals of the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement on the proposed terms and schedule; ALC’s ability to maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers following the announcement of the merger agreement; the ability of the parties to satisfy the conditions to closing of the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement; the risk that the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement may not be completed in the time frame expected by the parties or at all; the risks that are described from time to time in ALC’s reports filed with the SEC, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, filed with the SEC on March 14, 2013, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and in other of ALC’s filings with the SEC; and general industry and economic conditions.

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Tick Data’s management is buying the company and receiving funding from Tactex F1 Private Equity Fund.  Neal Falkenberry, Tick Data’s president, and Thomas Myers, Senior VP, will have two-thirds, while Tactex will have one-third, a spokeswoman says. Tick Data, which is headquartered in Great Falls, Virginia, provides time data for the equities, options and futures markets.

PRESS RELEASE

GREAT FALLS, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Tick Data, Inc. (www.tickdata.com) is pleased to announce the corporate buyback of the firm by its long-time management team, led by Neal Falkenberry, CFA, and Thomas Myers, with additional funding from the Tactex F1 Private Equity Fund. After eight years of ownership by Penson Worldwide, Inc., and a brief acquisition by Desjardins Group, Canada’s leading cooperative financial group, as part of Nexa Technologies, Inc., ownership and operations once again belong to the individuals who built the company from a niche provider of historical intraday U.S. futures data to the leading provider of research-ready global futures, index, equity, and options historical intraday data.

“Our management team is energized to once again own Tick Data”

“Our management team is energized to once again own Tick Data,” said Neal Falkenberry, CFA, President of Tick Data, Inc. “While the firm has grown and prospered as part of Penson, we believe that, in order to become the world’s central repository of historical intraday time series market data, Tick Data must be owned and operated by the entrepreneurs who passionately built the company and understand its clients.”

“As we began to integrate Nexa with Disnat, we realized Tick Data does not share common customers, infrastructure, or priorities,” said Laurent Blanchard, VP and General Manager, Online Brokerage, Disnat. “The two companies are best run independently, and I am confident that Tick Data’s customers will benefit from the renewed focus and energy the management team will have now that the company is back in their hands.”

Tick Data will hit the ground running under its new ownership by adding an additional New York-based salesperson and continuing to expand its considerable offering of historical intraday market data. Tick Data’s product line currently includes historical trade and quote data for 195 global futures and index symbols, all U.S. equity and index options, and all listed equities traded in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, London, Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid, Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, Paris, Tokyo, and the recently added Mexican, Hong Kong, Korean, and Australian stock markets.

“When the opportunity arose to re-acquire the company, it was a logical decision,” continued Falkenberry. “Our commitment to our clients has never been stronger. Tick Data will continue to provide research-ready historical intraday market data to the world’s finest traders and quantitative analysts for many years to come.”

About Tick Data, Inc.:

Founded in 1984, Tick Data, Inc. provides clean, reliable historical intraday time series data for the equities, options, and futures markets. Tick Data employs proprietary data validation, price-filtering, and ticker symbol mapping processes to produce robust, research-ready historical data. From efficient data collection and distribution to seamless integration with third-party analytical software, Tick Data removes the frustration of building and maintaining sets of historical intraday data.

About Tactex:

The Tactex F1 Private Equity Fund is a Canadian investment fund that focuses on direct investments in cash flow, positive small cap entities or start-up firms through a combination of debt, preferred shares, or common shares. The Fund is available only to select qualifying investors. The Fund is managed by Tactex Asset Management Inc. who is registered as a portfolio manager with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, the Ontario Securities Commission and the British Columbia Securities Commission and as an Exempt Market Dealer and Investment Fund Manager with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers and the Ontario Securities Commission.

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