Venture Capital News
Aisling Capital Announces Close of US$550M Life Sciences Fund
Representatives of Aisling Capital announced that the company raised US$550 million in equity for its life sciences fund, Aisling Capital II, LP. The ten member Aisling Capital team, which was spun-out of Perseus-Soros Management, LLC, will invest primarily in life science companies that are developing biopharmaceutical products and that are creating businesses based on advanced life science technologies. The Aisling Capital team will continue to participate in the management of the Perseus-Soros BioPharmaceutical Fund, LP and will have a total of US$1 billion in committed capital under management.
The Aisling Capital team comprises individuals with a combination of clinical, transactional, operational and capital markets expertise, complemented by extensive networks in the life sciences industry. Team members include Dennis Purcell, Steve Elms, Andrew Schiff, M.D., Magdalene Cook, M.D., Jan Hoerrner, Adele Kittredge Murray, Andrew Nicholson, Diana Robinson, Anthony Sun, M.D., and Brett Zbar, M.D.
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Athenix Secures $13 Million in Series C Financing
Representatives of Athenix Corp., a leading biotechnology company developing novel products, technologies, and processes for agricultural and chemical applications, announced the company has raised US$13 million in growth capital through a Series C venture capital investment.
The Series C round was led by new investor Finistere Partners of San Diego, California, with continued strong participation from the entire existing investor group: Intersouth Partners of Durham, North Carolina, Polaris Venture Partners of Waltham, Massachusetts, Boston Millennia Partners of Boston, Massachusetts, Hunt Ventures of Dallas, Texas, and Eastman Ventures, the venture capital arm of Eastman Chemical Company of Kingsport, Tennessee.
Athenix plans to use the proceeds to continue moving products from their broad portfolio through field trials to registration. Key products include major crops with enhanced traits such as tolerance to important herbicides and resistances to pests such as nematodes and insects. In October 2005 Athenix announced results from very successful field trials of transgenic plants containing proprietary glyphosate tolerance genes. The company has discovered an important new class of genes that provides extremely high tolerance to glyphosate.
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Cortec Group Announces the Acquistion of Snyder Industries, Inc.
Representatives of Cortec Group Fund III, L.P., a New York based private equity firm which invests in middle-market manufacturing, distribution and proprietary service businesses, announced that on December 22, 2005 the company acquired a majority interest in Snyder Industries, Inc. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, Snyder is a leading manufacturer of rotationally molded containers including storage and transportation tanks, intermediate bulk containers and residential septic tanks. The company’s primary end markets are agricultural, industrial, food, and residential applications. Snyder operates molding facilities in Nebraska, California, Arkansas and West Virginia.
The acquisition of Snyder represents the eighth platform investment by Cortec Group Fund III, L.P.
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Event: “The Boardroom” (Jan. 24)
VC TaskForce is launching “The Boardroom,” an innovative program on Boards of Directors, with its debut at 6:30pm on the evening of January 24, 2006 at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman located at 2475 Hanover Street in Palo Alto, California. “The Boardroom” uses a case-study approach to simulate real life boardroom scenarios. Through well-crafted cases, we can re-live actual boardroom situations in private and public, high-tech companies and learn from others’ mistakes. It’s a “Flight Simulator” for boardroom training – no seatbelts required.
Anyone who’s learned the hard lessons of business on-the-job knows that experience is actually the second-best teacher. The case method is the best. A well crafted case can pack more experience into every hour of learning than any other instructional approach – and there’s always a soft landing. Judgment and the wisdom developed from experience lie at the very core of business success. There’s no more effective way to develop these skills than through cases, such as those presented in “The Boardroom” program.
“The Boardroom” program has been developed by two high tech corporate governance advisors: Deborah Ludewig, Partner, Emerging Growth and Technology, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, and Ann Peckenpaugh, President, Board Search Partners LLC.
There is a $79 fee for VC TaskForce Members, a $99 charge for affiliate members and a general charge of $129. For more information, see http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=100258 .
