European Tech Wire

CVC Closes £4.1-Billion Private-Equity Fund for Europe

London -- CVC Capital Partners Ltd., a U.K.-based private-equity firm,
announced that it has closed a £4.1-billion (6 billion euro) private-
equity fund for Europe -- the largest private-equity fund for the region
to date. CVC said that it raised the funds from a broad range of
international institutional investors and high net worth individuals, with
particularly strong demand from North American and new and existing
European investors. The company said the massive fund would invest
in a wide range of companies across Europe, focusing on long-term
investments and working in partnership with management. "The
significant demand from both existing Limited Partners, as well as new
investors, reflects the solid investor confidence in CVC and a
recognition of our strong performance record and competitive strength
in Europe, as well as the increasing recognition of private equity as an
asset class," said CVC Chairman Michael Smith.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?V5D73258B

France-Based NetCentrex to Buy NeoTIP for Undisclosed Sum

Paris -- NetCentrex SA, a France-based Internet telephony (VoIP)
system vendor, announced that it has agreed to acquire NeoTIP SA, a
France-based session border controller (SBC) vendor, for an
undisclosed sum. NetCentrex said it made the move in order to speed
up its IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architecture strategy, bringing
increased security, interoperability and quality to its voice and video
communications. "As IP technology is becoming the foundation for
delivering advanced applications to consumers and enterprises, network
operators demand increased security and quality of service," said
NetCentrex Chairman Olivier Hersent. "NeoTIP's SBC expertise
reinforces NetCentrex's ability to meet these requirements and
strengthens our rapid evolution toward a full IMS architecture." Both
companies are spin-outs from France Telecom's R&D laboratories.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050727/ukw005.html?.v=23

EU Allows Nokia to Offload Mobile Radio Unit to EADS

Brussels -- The European Commission announced that it has approved
the proposed acquisition of Nokia's professional mobile radio (PMR)
division to the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. (EADS).
PMR networks are wireless systems used by emergency services,
police, taxis and truck drivers. The Commission said the deal would not
significantly impede competition in Europe. "Despite relatively high
combined market shares in the EEA, the Commission's market
investigation ... confirmed that there are sufficient current competitive
constraints within the PMR market to preserve effective competition,"
the Commission said. EADS said it expected to close the deal, currently
valued at about 90 million euro, by year's end.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E1A72158B

VCs Return to U.K. Semiconductor Market after Slow First Half

London -- A new report by Ascendant, a U.K.-based corporate finance
adviser focused on the technology sector, shows that venture-capital
investment in the local semiconductor and optoelectronics sectors is on
the rise. The report said that nearly a quarter of the total £242 million
invested by VCs in U.K.-based technology firms went to the
semiconductor and optoelectronics sectors. After a relatively slow first
half of 2005, in which only two companies received venture capital
(Plastic Logic and Frontier Silicon), a good number of deals were made
in the second, including Elixent (£8 million), Icera (£5.3 million),
Intense Photonics (£2.5 million), Microstencil (£1 million) and
Quantum Filament Technologies (£800,000), Ascendant said.
http://www.ascendant.ltd.uk/

Report: "Other" Media Product Placements to Grow by 18%

Stamford, Connecticut -- Television and films still account for more
than 90% of so-called "product-placement" spending -- where a
company pays to have its product featured within the content of a story
-- but Stamford-based media research firm PQ Media predicts that the
category of "other" media will grow by 18% to 317 million euro (£219
million) in 2005. The category of "other" media includes magazines,
newspapers, videogames, the Internet, recorded music, consumer books
and radio. "The strong growth of product placement spending in 'other
media' is being fuelled mainly by solid expansion in videogames, the
Internet and recorded music, although magazines, newspapers,
consumer books and radio are also expected to post double-digit
growth in 2005," PQ Media said.
http://productplacement.notlong.com 

U.S.-Based Biolex Therapeutics Acquires France's LemnaGene

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina -- Biolex, a U.S.-based
biotechnology company, announced that it has acquired LemnaGene, a
privately held, France-based biotechnology start-up researching
potential applications of the small, aquatic plant Lemna to produce
recombinant proteins. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Biolex is developing recombinant human therapeutic proteins that
traditionally have been very expensive to develop. The company is
funded by an international group of life science venture firms and
strategic corporate investors, including Johnson & Johnson and the
Dow Chemical Co.
http://www.biolex.com/media.html

BenQ Shareholders Approve Deal with Siemens

Frankfurt -- BenQ Corp., a Taiwan-based maker of mobile phone
handsets and computer peripherals, announced that it has gained
shareholder approval to acquire the unprofitable mobile-phone division
of Siemens AG, a Germany-based technology and engineering
company. Under the terms of the deal, Siemens plans to pay BenQ
approximately 250 million euro -- 85% in cash and the rest in assets
and technology; Siemens will also invest 50 million euro in BenQ
shares. BenQ, which was spun off from electronics company Acer in
2001, will use the Siemens brand for up to five years. BenQ said it
expected to close the deal, originally announced in June, by Oct. 1.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?O4AB2558B

Avid and Pinnacle Merger Awaits European Approval

Mountain View, California -- Avid Technology, a U.S.-based maker of
audio and video editing systems, and competitor Pinnacle Systems
announced that shareholders from both companies have approved
Avid's acquisition of Pinnacle. In March, Avid agreed to pay $462
million in cash and stock for Pinnacle. The closing of the deal remains
subject to approval by European regulators, the companies said.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?P2A81258B

VC-Backed Companies Double Number of IPOs in 2nd Qtr

London -- The latest report by VentureOne shows a marked increase in
the number of venture-capital-backed companies in Europe completing
initial public offerings (IPOs) in the second quarter of this year.
VentureOne's "European Liquidity Report" found that 14 VC-backed
companies floated on the stock market, twice as many as occurred in
the same quarter last year and the highest total in the last five years.
What's more, the companies in question raised a total of 313.5 million
euro, a remarkable 139% year-on-year increase. "While IPOs in the
U.S. declined considerably this quarter, in Europe, a small but
significant IPO window remains open for the most promising
entrepreneurial companies, although they are taking longer to reach this
exit," said VentureOne International Research Director Steve
Harmston, who added that about 60% of the exiting companies were
initially financed in 1999 or 2000.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?L30C2638B

Euroweb Buys Hungary-Based Navigator for 8.3 Million Euro

Budapest -- Euroweb International Corp., a U.S.-based Internet service
provider (ISP), announced that it has acquired Navigator Group, a
Hungary-based IT services vendor, for approximately 8.3 million euro
in cash and shares. Navigator, which provides IT outsourcing,
applications development and IT consulting services, is owned by the
Wallis Group. Euroweb, which already has operations in Hungary,
Slovakia and Romania, said the acquisition was the company's first
foray into IT services. "We are confident of the strong upside potential
that this first move into the IT sector brings to our company," said
Euroweb CEO Csaba Toro. "We look at this acquisition as our first step
into IT services, and we intend to aggressively seek additional
opportunities in this industry, in order to bring more and more value to
our shareholders."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?S3312148B