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FinanceTerm Sheet

Term Sheet — Tuesday, March 17

By
Dan Primack
Dan Primack
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By
Dan Primack
Dan Primack
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 17, 2015, 9:27 AM ET

Random Ramblings

It’s time to compete again against your fellow Term Sheet readers, in our annual March Madness Extravaganza. Not only for bragging right, but for three actual prizes:

(1) The opportunity to write this column for one morning, which could be anything from an essay to a plea for work to a giant advertisement for your firm. (2) A one-year sub to Fortune (print & digital); (3) A pair of tickets to the next Liquidity Event we hold near your hometown.

Here’s how you play:

  • Follow this link
  • If you already have an ESPN account, just log in. If not, please create one (only takes a moment, and you can also connect via your Facebook account).
  • Hit "Join Group," create a bracket and fill it out.
  • While I love clever “team names,” I ask that you use your real name so that I can better figure out who is leading throughout the tourney: First name, last name (place of work). Thanks.
  • If for some reason you have troubles with the above link, just go to the main ESPN homepage and hit on its Tourney Challenge. Our group name is “Fortune Term Sheet” and the password is “clawback” (without the quote marks).
  • Good luck!

• Speaking of contests (Part I): Last fall we reported that the tech and healthcare teams at Atlas are going their separate ways, with the latter maintaining the Atlas brand. Since then, the tech group has been going by FKA. It originally worked with a naming firm to come up with its new moniker, but that didn’t work out. So now it’s turning to the crowd, and offering up a pretty substantial reward to whoever comes up with the perfect name.

FKA has just launched a new website, in which you can suggest up to 10 names. If it picks yours, you will be given a $50,000 investment in a new $200 million fund that the firm just closed (marketing only began in January, and $200m was its hard cap). If the fund loses money, then you’re basically out of luck. But if it’s profitable, then you actually could earn multiples of that figure. In other words, you’re just like any other limited partner — even getting the right to attend annual meetings. Read more here.

• Speaking of contests (Part II): We've learned that real-money fantasy sports site Draft Kings is in the midst of raising a large new round of VC funding at a unicorn valuation. Among those in talks to invest is Walt Disney Co., whose properties include ESPN. It would be the Boston-based company's third round of funding so far in 2014. Read more here.

• More deal scoop: DoorDash, an on-demand delivery service for local restaurants, has raised around $35 million in new VC funding at a valuation of nearly $600 million, Fortune has learned.

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led the round, with partner John Doerr to join the DoorDash board of directors. (We'll presume that Doerr is taking the board seat because of his personal belief in the business, and not simply because of the delicious name symmetry.)

DoorDash previously raised nearly $20 million, including a $17 million Series A round last May from Sequoia Capital, CRV, Khosla Ventures, Pejman Mar Ventures and Ted Zagat.

• Just saying: Uber's CFO steps down just a few days after Google's CFO does the same. So far, Uber has not named a replacement. I'm sure it's just a coincidence. Right?

• Poach-a-palooza: Last November we reported that Jonas Agesand had stepped down as a London-based managing director of investor relations with The Blackstone Group, in order to take a similar position with rival private equity firm Warburg Pincus. Now comes word that he wasn’t the only Blackstone fundraising professional to make the switch.

Both Faisal Jamil and Owen Boger also have left Blackstone for principal positions Warburg Pincus, Fortune has learned. The moves occurred in December, but were not publicly announced. Read more.

• From the courtroom: Kleiner Perkins yesterday launched its defense of the gender discrimination charges brought by former junior partner Ellen Pao. Among those testifying was current KPCB partner Mary Meeker, who said that "Kleiner Perkins is the best place to be a woman in the business." For the record, Meeker has never worked at any other VC firm. You can read our coverage by going here.

THE BIG DEAL

• Pinterest has raised $367 million in a new round of funding that more than doubles its valuation to $11 billion. According to a regulatory filing, the company could add another $210 million to the round. Read more.

VENTURE CAPITAL DEALS

• Dataminr, a New York-based big data company that analyzes social media, has raised $150 million in new VC funding. Fidelity Investments led the round, and was joined by Wellington Management, Credit Suisse NEXT Investors, Venrock, Institutional Venture Partners, John Mack, Tom Glocer, Noam Gottesman and Nicolas Berggruen. Read more.

• Health Catalyst, a Salt Lake City-based provider of healthcare data warehousing, analytics and outcomes improvement, has raised $70 million in new VC funding. Norwest Venture Partners led the round, and was joined by fellow return backers Sequoia Capital, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Sorenson Capital, CHV Capital and Partners HealthCare. New investors include Sands Capital Ventures, Tenaya Capital, Epic Ventures and Leavitt Equity Partners. www.healthcatalyst.com

• Birst, a San Francisco-based provider of cloud business intelligence solutions, has raised $65 million in new VC funding led by Wellington Management. The company previously raised $64 million in VC funding from Sequoia Capital, Northgate Capital, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and DAG Ventures. Read more.

• FiftyThree, a New York-based maker of mobile creation tools, has raised $30 million in new VC funding led by New Enterprise Associates. Read more.

• Glooko Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif.-based platform for diabetes management, has raised $16.5 million in Series B funding. Canaan Partners and Medtronic co-led the round, and were joined by return backers The Social + Capital Partnership and Samsung. www.glooko.com

• Orbital Insight, a Mountain View, Calif.-based market intelligence startup, has raised $8.7 million in Series A funding. Backers include Bloomberg Beta, Google Ventures, citizen.vc and Lux Capital. www.orbitalinsight.com

• Altocloud, a Mountain View, Calif.-based provider of a predictive communications platform for customer sales and engagement, has raised $2 million in seed funding from Delta Partners, Digicel Group and ACT Venture Capital. www.altocloud.com

• CyPhy Works, a Danvers, Mass.–based drone developer, has raised an undisclosed amount of strategic funding from Motorola Solutions. The company, founded by Helen Grenier, previously raised $7 million in Series A funding from Felicis Ventures, General Catalyst Partners and Lux Capital. www.cyphyworks.com

• nCino, a Wilmington, N.C.-based provider of cloud-based operating solutions to the financial services industry, has raised an undisclosed amount of new Series B funding from Salesforce Ventures. The company previously held a $29 million first close on its Series B round from Insight Venture Partners, Wellington Management, John Mack and Gene Ludwig. www.ncino.com

• Red Rock Biofuels, a Fort Collins, Colo.-based renewable biofuels company, has raised an undisclosed amount of new funding from Flagship Ventures., Some of the proceeds will be used to build a commercial-scale refinery in Lakeview, Oregon. www.redrockbio.com

PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS

• Apollo Global Management is in talks to acquire most of the assets of Digital First Media, publisher of the Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News, according to Reuters. The deal could be valued at around $400 million. Cerberus Capital Management also is said to have bid. Read more.

• The Blackstone Group has paid around $1.3 billion to acquire Chicago skyscraper Willis Tower (f.k.a. Sears Tower). Read more.

• Conergy, a German solar energy company, has raised an undisclosed amount of new equity funding from firms like RWE and existing majority owner Kawa Capital. Read more.

• Eyebobs, a Minneapolis-based maker of reading glasses, has raised an undisclosed amount of private equity funding from Norwest Equity Partners. www.eyebobs.com

• The Harbour Group has acquired Phillips & Temro Industries Inc., an Eden Prairie, Minn.–based provider of thermal management systems and controls for the transportation and heavy equipment markets, from Audax Group. No financial terms were disclosed. www.phillipsandtemro.com

• HGGC has agreed to acquire a majority of the assets of MRops, a Warrington, Penn.–based provider of market research operations services to management consulting firms and market research agencies. No financial terms were disclosed. HGGC will merge MRops with existing portfolio company Survey Sampling International. www.mrops.com

• H.I.G. Capital has acquired Fox River Fiber LLC, a De Pere, Wis.-based “green” manufacturer of premium de-inked recycled pulp, and will combine it with existing portfolio company •  No financial terms were disclosed. www.higcapital.com

• LDC is sponsoring a £207 million management buyout of SSP, a UK-based provider of software for the insurance and financial services industries. Read more.

• LLR Partners has acquired an unspecified equity stake in Agility Recovery, a Charlotte, N.C.–based provider of disaster recovery and business continuity solutions, from Generation Partners. No financial terms were disclosed. www.agilityrecovery.com

• Moda Midstream, a Houston-based liquids terminaling and logistics provider, has raised $750 million in an initial equity commitment from EnCap Flatrock Midstream. www.modamidstream.com

IPOs

• Refresco Gerber, a Rotterdam–based beverage bottler, is prepping an IPO that could value the company at upwards of $1.37 billion. Shareholders include 3i Group, Kaupthing Bank, FL Group and Vifilfell Bottling Group. Read more.

EXITS

• Calvert Street Capital Partners has sold IOS Holdings, a provider of inspection and tubular integrity management services for the upstream oil and gas industry, to L.B. Foster Co. (Nasdaq: FSTR). No financial terms were disclosed. Harris Williams & Co. managed the process. www.lbfoster.com

• National CineMedia Inc. (Nasdaq: NCMI) has abandoned its planned $375 million purchase of Screenvision, a New York-based provider of in-cinema advertising, several months after U.S. antitrust regulators sued to block the deal. Screenvision will remain a portfolio company of Shamrock Capital. Read more.

Permira is planning to sell its remaining 11.9% stake in listed German clothing retailer Hugo Boss. Read more.

• Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) is in talks to acquire Websense Inc., a San Diego-based network security company that is currently owned by Vista Equity Partners, according to Bloomberg. Citigroup is managing the process. Read more.

OTHER DEALS

• Alfa Telecom has offered to buy a 13.76% stake in Turkish mobile operator Turkcell for $2.8 billion. Read more.

• Curtiss-Wright Corp. (NYSE: CW) has acquired certain assets and liabilities of Bolt's Metallizing Inc., a Phoenix–based provider of thermal spray coatings for critical aerospace applications. www.boltsmetallizing.com

• Fosun International Ltd. is considering a takeover offer for Cushman & Wakefield, a New York-based commercial real estate services firm that has been put on the block by its controlling Agnelli family, according to Bloomberg. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are managing the process, which could garner upwards of $2 billion. Read more.

• Macerich (NYSE: MAC), the third-largest U.S. shopping mall owner, has rejected an unsolicited $16 billion takeover offer from Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG). Read more. 

• RSA Insurance Group PLC (LSE: RSA) is considering a divestiture of its Latin American business, according to the FT. Read more.

• Singapore Airlines Ltd. is in talks to acquire a stake South Korean discount air carrier Jeju Air Co. Ltd. Read more.

• Spring Insurance Solutions LLC, a Kansas City-based insurance broker for Medicare Supplement insurance products, has secured a $25 million term loan package from Comvest Partners. www.springventuregroup.com

• WPP PLC (LSE: LSE) has offered to acquire a majority stake in Dunnhumby, a British customer data company that has been put up for sale by Tesco Stores, according to Reuters. A deal could be worth around $3 billion. Read more.

 

FIRMS & FUNDS

• No fund news this morning.

MOVING IN, UP, ON & OUT

• Bryan Cummings has joined boutique investment bank D.A. Davidson & Co. as a managing director and head of private equity coverage. He is the former leader of U.S. middle-market financial sponsor coverage for RBC Capital Markets, and most recently led corporate development for Greenwich Associates. www.dadco.com

• Dan Lombard has joined Polaris Partners as a Boston-based principal. He previously was with H.I.G. Growth Partners. Polaris also has promoted Paulina Hill to principal. www.polarispartners.com

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