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Random Ramblings
Some notes to kick off your Friday...
*** Foundry Group, the Colorado-based venture capital firm best known for its early investment in Zynga, has closed its third fund with $225 million in capital commitments.
That’s the exact same size as Foundry’s first two funds, and virtually the exact same LP base. In fact, expect that Foundry’s upcoming announcement on the fund close will be a literal cut-and-paste job from the prior two announcements (save for the date and fund number).
Foundry still has dry powder remaining in its second fund – closed in October 2010 – so the new vehicle won't begin drawing capital until late this year or early Q1. Recent Foundry deals include Modular Robotics, FullContact and Cloudability. No word yet on if the firm is planning to shoot another video...
*** Global private equity investment volume is off 9.9% from this time last year, according to Thomson Reuters ($180.5b compared to $200.4b). One senior private equity executive I spoke with yesterday blames the broader corporate M&A market, which is off 14.7% YTD ($1.57t compared to $1.88t).
“What the private equity world really needs is for corporate M&A to pick up,” he explained. “When companies make acquisitions, it often means that they spin off and sell other businesses. That’s where private equity likes to play – more than the giant take-private deals of a few years ago.”
*** Speaking of giant take-private deals: Yesterday we reported on the website that several private equity firms have begun to consider a buyout offer for Staples, the office superstore that has lost around half its value over the past couple of years.
*** Jason Matlof has quietly stepped down as a partner with Battery Ventures, Fortune has learned. He had joined the firm’s Silicon Valley office in early 2005 to focus on enterprise infrastructure and greentech investments. No specifics yet on his destination, except that it is expected to be an operating role (he had been VP of marketing and biz dev with Neoteris prior to joining Battery).
Some of Matlof’s board seats will be assumed by Battery’s Tom Crotty. In general, this basically marks the end of Battery’s foray into greentech investing, as it is not planning to add anyone to replace Matlof.
*** Get Liquid: Our upcoming Liquidity Event in San Francisco is now sold out, with more than 500 of you expected to attend. It’s possible that we’ll figure out a way to open up some extra space over the next few weeks, so be sure to add yourself to the wait-list at http://sfliquidity.eventbrite.com. Per usual, big thanks to sponsors New Enterprise Associates, NXT Capital and Dorsey & Whitney.
*** Have a great weekend...  |
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