Posts Tagged ‘TN’
Monday, October 25th, 2010
 NASHVILLE, TN – Forensic toxicology testing company Aegis Sciences says New York-based Metalmark Capital has made a “majority investment” in an undisclosed amount in the company. Founder, Dr. David Black, remains a large shareholder in Aegis and will continue in his role as CEO.
Metalmark’s investment in Aegis will provide growth capital needed to continue to grow the business in its primary markets: testing services for pain clinics; anti-doping services for sports teams; and, forensic testing for crime labs.
“As a specialty forensic toxicology laboratory, we strive to be the premier forensic laboratory providing timely science and service excellence to pain management physicians, medical examiner/coroner systems, sports organizations, workplaces, and commercial reference laboratories. In particular, PainComp® has become an indispensable tool for pain management physicians to protect their patients and their practices,” said Dr. Black.
“We believe Aegis Sciences Corporation provides the foremost comprehensive prescription drug monitoring program to physicians practicing in the pain management field,” said Fazle Husain, Managing Director at Metalmark Capital.
Founded in 1986 as Vanderbilt University’s sports anti-doping laboratory by Black, Aegis provides toxicology services to pain management physicians, professional sports leagues, over 100 colleges and universities, medical examiner offices, state and local government agencies, courts of law, and Fortune 500 corporations throughout the U.S.
Tags: Aegis Sciences Corp., financing, forensic toxicology testing, Metalmark Capital, Nashville, New York, TN
Posted in Money, Other SE, Tennessee | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010
 BRISTOL, TN – Pfizer Inc.(NYSE: PFE) and King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: KG)have agreed to merge in a deal worth $3.6 billion in cash.
Pfizer will acquire King, a diversified specialty pharmaceutical discovery and clinical development company, for $3.6 billion in cash, or$14.25 per share, which represents a premium of approximately 40 percent to King’s closing price as of October 11, 2010, and 46 percent percent to the one-month average closing price as of the same date.
King’s portfolio, includs a prescription pharmaceutical business focused on delivering new formulations of pain treatments designed to discourage common methods of misuse and abuse, and the Meridian auto- injector business for emergency drug delivery. The company has an R&D facility in Cary, NC.
Pfizer says the strategic combination will allow it to leverage its existing commercial capabilities and expertise to create one of the leading broad portfolios for pain relief and management in the biopharmaceutical industry, offering both currently marketed opioid and non-opioid products as well as a pipeline spanning stages of clinical development.
Tags: acquistions, Bristol, King Pharmaceuticals, pain management, Pfizer, TN
Posted in Acquisitions, Other SE, Tennessee | Comments Off
Thursday, September 16th, 2010
 LENIOR CITY, TN – EOD Technology Inc., a professional services company providing strategic stability operations support to governments and corporations, has raised $65.3 million in a mixed securities offering, according to a regulatory filing.
The company provides security; munitions management, response and range maintenance; expeditionary construction; tactical IT/communications; logistics and life support; and disaster response in austere and hostile environments.
EOD is employee owned.
Two retired U.S. Marine explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) sergeants foudned the company in1987.
The company disclosed the funding in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tags: EOD, financing, goverment and corporate logisticcs, IT, Lenoir, munitions management, Security, TN
Posted in Government/Defense, Money, Other SE, Tennessee | Comments Off
Friday, September 10th, 2010
 NASHVILLE, TN – Entrada, a company selling health information technology for clinical documentation and data exchange, has received growth financing in from two new partners. FCA Venture Partners, the venture capital manager of Clayton Associates, has increased the firm’s total equity funding to almost $3 million by investing in the company. In addition, Silicon Valley Bank has provided debt financing.
Entrada CEO Bill Brown said, “The round will allow us to more aggressively implement our growth strategy which includes additional sales and marketing and an acceleration of our product timeline.”
Entrada Shifts into High Gear
The company’s web-based platform makes electronic health records easier for clinics, hospitals and surgery centers to deploy and use.
“Entrada allows physicians to adopt and use electronic medical records without losing productivity,” said Matt King, managing partner of FCA Venture Partners.
“EHRs are being much more aggressively adopted now, with federal stimulus dollars subsidizing them. The problem is these systems can reduce physician productivity by up to 10 percent to 20 percent. Entrada offers an overlay application that makes doctors faster on EHRs, not slower. It works like doctors work.”
A new report from the research firm Frost & Sullivan projects the EHR market to double in three years, from $1.3 billion in 2009 to an estimated $2.6 billion in 2012, driven largely by federal incentive programs and healthcare reform.
Nashville venture capital firm Claritas Capital made an initial investment in Entrada earlier in 2010.
Tags: Bill Brown, Claritas Capital, Entrada, FCA Venture Partners, financing, health IT, Nashville, Silicon Valley Bank, TN
Posted in IT, Money, Other SE, Tennessee | Comments Off
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
 CHARLOTTE, NC – Welsh Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a private equity firm, and Peak 10′s executive management have acquired a majority stake in the company. Financial details were not disclosed.
Selling shareholders include majority owner Seaport Capital, a New York-based private equity firm and McCarthy Capital, an Omaha, Neb.-based private equity fund.
Peak 10’s existing management team, led by Co-Founder, President and CEO David Jones will continue to operate the business.
Jones said, “Our partnership with Welsh Carson enables Peak 10 to continue increasing the scale of our business to meet the high demand for data center infrastructure and related managed services. Our strategic focus remains intact but our resources now position us to more rapidly extend our geographic footprint, strengthen our team and further accelerate our managed services and cloud offerings.”
Peak 10 has managed a path of steady and consistent growth achieved through expansion in the greenfield markets of Jacksonville, FL.; Charlotte, NC.; Tampa, FL. and Raleigh, NC, and through acquisitions of established data center companies in Louisville, KY; Nashville, TN.; Richmond, VA and, most recently, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
In 2007 and early 2008, Peak 10 opened greenfield data centers in Atlanta, Ga. and Cincinnati, Ohio respectively. Over the last two years Peak 10 has completed construction of additional facilities in five of its markets to meet customer growth and demand.
The transaction is expected to close in early October.
Tags: Acquisitions, Atlanta, Charlotte, FL, Fort Lauderdale, GA, KY, Louisville, Nahsville, NC, Peak 10, Raleigh, Richmond, TN, VA, Welsh Carson
Posted in Acquisitions, Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Other SE, Potomac, Tennessee, Virginia | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
 JOHNSON CITY, TN – RxBio Holdings, which has developed a product that protects users against lethal doses of radiation, has raised nearly $122 million from 120 investors for a merger of its two commonly controlled affiliated companies, according to a regulatory filing.
The company’s technology is based on small-molecule research at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis.
Its lead product, RX100, is a room-temperature stable small molecule that boosts natural mechanisms that promote and sustain cell survival in almost every cell type – while at the same time, inhibiting the cascade leading to programmed cell death.
The company says the treatment is effective in protecting a person’s whole body if given before, during or up t0 24 hours after exposure to an otherwise lethal dose of radiation.
While the threat of all-out nuclear war no longer seems immanent, nuclear terrorism is a distinct possibility, so a technology like this could potentially save millions of lives.
From what the company suggests, its cell-saving molecule has other possible applications that could also be important.
The company says it is also developing treatments for cancer and plaque-blocking.
The company disclosed the financing in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com
Tags: cancer, financing, Johnson City, Memphis, merger, plaque blocking, radiation protection, RxBio, TN, University of Tennessee
Posted in Money, Tennessee | Comments Off
Friday, August 20th, 2010
 Christopher Mitchell By Chistopher Mitchell
Opelika, Alabama is the latest community in the Southeast to move toward a community owned broadband network.
Last week citizens approved a fiber-to-the-home network owned by the public power utility to expand telecom competition and invest in smart-grid services.
Though major telecom companies have long argued that broadband has plenty of competition, many communities beg to differ.
General dissatisfaction
This is not an uprising against a single cable or phone company, rather general dissatisfaction with de facto monopolist providers who focus first on shareholder returns rather than community needs.
Throughout the south, nearly every national cable co has had to deal with an upstart community that chose to own its information infrastructure: Comcast (Chattanooga, TN), Cox (Lafayette, LA), Time Warner (Wilson, NC), and Charter (Opelika, AL).
Fastest and least expensive broadband systems are municipal
The trend is fascinating: the single fastest citywide broadband tier available in the US comes from Chattanooga with 150Mbps.
Probably the most economical connection in the nation lies in Lafayette with 10Mbps for a mere $30/month (as with most community fiber networks, Lafayette and Chattanooga only offer symmetrical services – ensuring users can publish content as readily as downloading it).
Bristol, Virginia was first
In fact, the very first city-owned triple-play fiber-to-the-home network in the nation started in Bristol, Virginia, where it has brought hundreds of high paying jobs to people who sorely need them.
Opelika’s 62 percent yes vote was necessary because Alabama law requires a referendum before communities build a network offering cable services – laws pushed by deep-pocketed incumbent providers who understand that communities themselves are the most likely source of broadband competition.
Due to the massive upfront investment, long payback, and difficulty of competing with an entrenched incumbent, the private sector has little appetite for overbuilding.
Why communities build their own networks
Wireless may be competitive against DSL, but Wimax is no match for DOCSIS 3 cable networks, which are more reliable and offer higher capacity in general. Fiber-to-the-home offers much higher reliability, capacity, and headroom for upgrades but wireline companies with little competition see little pressure to upgrade.
This is why communities are building their own FTTH networks – they want to remain technologically competitive with the rest of the world (and superior to perhaps 95 percent of the US) but recognize they have to invest in this infrastructure themselves – just as many of them did when private companies saw little reason to offer electricity to everyone at reasonable rates.
Battle looms again in NC
In North Carolina, Time Warner Cable’s lobbyists have consistently fought to outlaw community networks (even in areas the private sector has no interest in serving).
The effort failed earlier this summer despite making greater inroads than previous attempts. They will undoubtedly be back in Raleigh to try again next session – lobbyists are a tiny expense compared to the cost of a truly competitive landscape for these companies.
Christopher Mitchell is the Director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. He writes regularly about community networks on MuniNetworks.org and has published a comprehensive report about such networks: Breaking the Broadband Monopoly: How Communities are Building the Networks They Need .
TechJournal South has covered the efforts of states to regulate municipal broadband for some time. North Carolina has thus far turned back two efforts to put restrictions on the efforts of cities to create their own broadband networks, which one has done and several are planning. Both previous articles below contain links to numerous background pieces on the topic.
See: Six months to act
Municipal broadband battle rages on
Tags: AL, Bristol, Charter, Chattanooga, Comcast, Cox, LA, Lafayette, Municipal broadband, NC, Opelika, Time Warner, TN, VA, Wilson
Posted in Alabama, Carolinas, North Carolina, Other SE, Potomac, Telecommunications, Tennessee, Viewpoint, Virginia | Comments Off
Friday, June 25th, 2010
By Jeff Spalding
Peak 10
 Jeff Spalding One of the most talked about but least implemented initiatives concerning IT infrastructure is the design and execution of a Disaster Recovery (DR) plan. This is particularly relevant as hurricane season gets underway in the Atlantic.
Whether man-made or natural, disasters of all shapes and sizes represent costly disruptions to business practices. Fortunately, their long-term effects can be diminished with a DR plan.
An especially crucial business tool in today’s increasingly electronic world, a DR plan enables a company to effectively coordinate people and resources to mitigate downtime or any other interruption to services and operations in the event of a disaster.
Benefits of a Disaster Recovery Plan
A University of Texas study revealed that half of the companies that lose their data through disaster never re-open, and of those who do re-open, 90 percent will be forced out of business within two years.
Disasters are inevitable and can strike at any time. When it comes to anticipating such an event, expect the unexpected. Natural disasters may churn up conversations about DR, but statistics show that adverse situations resulting from simple human error or technical failure are far more likely to take place. These events can result in a crisis that is just as great a threat to your business’ mission-critical data.
A DR plan offers a proactive solution for times of instability. Having a DR plan creates flexibility within an organization as it requires identifying alternatives for resources, strategies and solutions. A good plan is one that has been tested over and over to ensure effectiveness. Its success depends on high level of collaboration, initiative and ingenuity.
Performing a risk assessment can help to calculate the true cost of downtime for your company, and allows you to understand the importance of a DR plan. It is important to determine your business’ level of disaster preparedness and identify potential areas for improvement
Designing a Replication Strategy
Companies who have ever experienced any type of downtime recognize that having data backed up at a secondary site is a powerful form of defense against data loss. Offsite data backup at a secondary site is vital, but is only one piece of the puzzle.
A full replication strategy includes planning for how you restore your data from the secondary site to the workplace after the crisis has concluded. In order to enjoy such a complete business continuity solution, you might consider:
- Designing a current, written and tested DR plan.
- Informing hardware, software, facilities and service vendors of the plan and their expected roles at that time.
- Backing up data on a regular basis at a geographically remote, hardened data center.
- Having a firewall and virus protection in place monitored regularly by expert engineers.
The Power of Data Center Networking
Simply storing your mission-critical data at a secure data center represents a large step toward avoiding the ill effects of disaster. A world-class facility is capable of providing IT infrastructure and resources that many companies are unable to duplicate in-house. Selecting the right data center partner is an important consideration because it can provide facility integrity, connectivity and even technical support that is crucial for disaster preparedness. When considering a data center partner, you might want to reflect on the following:
- Choose a data center that monitors and manages all conditions such as temperature, humidity and power conditions, and has multiple levels of security.
- Ensure that you have fully conditioned power to all of your hardware and redundant power with a UPS and generator.
- Critical systems should be tested on a regular basis and scheduled maintenance performed frequently.
- Multiple connections to a network service provider and multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are essential.
Taking Pride in Your Team
Perhaps the most overlooked and underrated aspect of a successful DR plan is the people who make up your company. During a crisis, the typical volume of calls and transactions increases threefold. Employees who can approach a disaster with preset expectations will be more likely to handle the situation with flexibility and composure. Their positive energy and attitudes will go a long way toward helping your company to recover as quickly and efficiently as possible. To successfully prepare personnel for disaster, consider the following:
- Design a DR plan with your employees in mind, making sure that roles are clearly outlined and communicated.
- Assign a designated recovery site for your people and determine whether or not staff members would be willing to relocate.
- Test your DR plan to ensure that all initiatives and expectations are clear.
- Provide each staff member with a clearly documented version of the written DR plan for reference.
The Best Defense: A Good Offense
At Peak 10, we provide our clients with the resources and technical expertise to help implement the best solution for avoiding business interruption caused by disaster and to recover as quickly and efficiently as possible. We know that being prepared in advance makes a world of difference when it comes to managing your business in the face of disaster. Having a DR plan will keep your IT infrastructure from being compromised and your company up and running. It is essential to design a plan that is appropriately tailored to your company and leverages the best methodology for your business and type of data. Pre-consideration of your company’s priorities and best practices allows for clear, logical thinking when disaster does strike. Proactive measures like these will allow you to implement the best solution when it comes to avoiding business interruption caused by disaster.
Click here to download Peak 10′s DR checklist to help determine your business’ disaster recovery preparedness and identify potential areas for improvement.
Jeff Spalding serves as the executive vice president of Market Operations for Peak 10, a managed services company with world-class data centers. The company delivers scalable, economical and reliable solutions for hosting and managing complex IT infrastructure. Peak 10 owns and operates data centers in 10 key markets that include Cincinnati, Ohio; Atlanta, Ga.; Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C.; Tampa, Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Nashville, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; and Richmond, Va. Jeff can be reached at jeff.spalding@peak10.com. For more information see: www.peak10.com.
Tags: Disaster preparations, FL, Georgia, Jeff Spalding, NC, Peak 10, TN
Posted in Business advice, Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina, Other SE, Tennessee, Viewpoint | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
 NASHVILLE, TN – Pathfinder Therapeutics Inc., a company developing minimally invasive surgery guidance products, has raised $4 million in equity led by TriStar Technology Fund and Limestone Fund, with existing investors Hatteras Venture Partners, Florida Gulfshore Capital and Clayton Associates participating.
The Nashville Business Journal reported the financing.
The company raised a $5 million round in 2008 led by Hatteras.
The company says it is the first to develop a GPS product to help doctors navigate during abdominal surgery.
It’s Explorer guidance product and Scout pre-op planning software received U.S. FDA clearance in 2007 and 2008.
Christopher Rand and Harry Jacobson of TriStar will join the company’s board.
TriStar and Limestone are TNInvestco recipients. TNInvestco is a state program aimed at boosting the amount of capital available to Tennessee startup companies. It initially provided $120 million to six venture firms.
Tags: Clayton Associates, financing, Flordia Gulfshore Capital, Hatteras Venture Partners, Limestone Fund, Medical Device, minimally invasive surgery, Nashville, TN, TNInvestco, TriStar Technology Fund
Posted in Money, Other SE, Tennessee | Comments Off
Monday, March 29th, 2010
 MEMPHIS, TN – Cagenix, a company that makes precision-fitted dental implant frameworks, has raised a $1 million debt and options financing from 14 investors, according to a regulatory filing.
The company uses a proprietary system to scan, design and make the Cagenix AccuFrame, a custom framework system for dental implants it says has fit properties unmatched in today’s market.
The company was founded in 2005 to develop and deploy and research news devices for dental implants.
It’s main focus is on providing superstructures for mulitple dental implants used to restore both function and appearance.
Carl W. Schulter, DDS, FACP and Past-President of the American College of Prosthodontists joined with his son, Drew Schulter, Denis J. DiAngelo, Ph.D.
We hear that dental implants are already replacing dentures in some patients. While expensive, they offer an experience much more like real teeth than dentures, we’re told.
We wouldn’t be surprised to see more advanced technology being applied to this field.
The company disclosed its financing in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tags: dental/medical device, financing, TN
Posted in Money, Other SE, Tennessee | Comments Off
Monday, March 29th, 2010
 RESEARCH TRIANGLE, NC – Google reports that more than 1,100 communities have responded to its request for information from those who want a shot at hosting the company’s experimental ultra high speed broadband project. It also received more than 194,000 responses from individuals. On a map Google issued showing the government and individual responses, the Southeast shows considerable hunger for the Google project.
Only four Southeast efforts actually generated a noticeable amount of buzz on the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, however, according to Steketee Greiner and Company, which tracked those communities generating “voice,” through their efforts.
Those making the firm’s top ten list on its ranking of “share of voice,” Sarasota, FL, ranked 5, Memphis, TN, 6, Ashville, NC, 7, and Greensboro, NC, 9.
Duluth, MN, ranked 1 on the list, followed by Grand Rapids, MI, Topeka, KS, and Fresno, CA. Portland, OR was 10.
The Southeast didn’t lack its share of stunts aimed at grabbing Google’s attention, however. Raleigh City Councilman Bonner Gaylord, in a video that includes other Raleigh officials, said he would name his unborn children after Google’s co-founders. It was only one of many widely reported stunts nationally.
On the map above, each small dot represents a government that responded to Google’s request for information and each large dot is an area where 1,000 or more individuals responded.
Google says its next step is to review the responses, visit sites, consult with third parties of interest and consult with officials in cities of interest.
The Google plan to install 1/Gbs broadband in the selected municipality would deliver broadband service about 100 times faster than what most Americans are receiving. It intends to reach from 50,000 to 500,000 people with the experiment.
Tags: Asheville, FL, Google broadband experiment, Greensboro, Internet, Memphis, NC, Sarasota, TN
Posted in Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Internet/New Media, Maryland, North Carolina, Other SE, Potomac, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
 COLLIERVILLE, TN – Floratine BioSciences Inc. has raised $9.4 million of a targeted $11 million equity financing, according to a regulatory filing. The company sells a product called “Carbon Power,” it says toughens plants by maintaining their cell integrity, conserving moisture, and using soil nutrients more effectively.
The company is a spin-off of Collierville-based Floratine Products Group, which sells chemicals that strengthen turf grass on golf courses and sports stadiums. FBS aims at selling the same types of products to farms.
The company says its products improve nutrient delivery, plant health, increase fertilizer efficiency, and enhance crop production.
The company, founded in 2007, previoulsy received a $6 million equity investment from a Toronto-based partner.
In an interview with the Memphis Business Journal, partner Brian Goodwin said the company thinks it can hit $100 million in sales, although he made that statement prior to the recession.
Tags: agribusiness, Biotech, financing, TN
Posted in Money, Other SE, Tennessee | Comments Off
Friday, March 19th, 2010
 NASHVILLE, TN – Nashville-based FrontStream Payments Inc., a national provider of payment solutions, has acquired Fast Transact Inc., a provider of e-commerce payment solutions. The acquisition was funded through an investment from Arsenal Capital. Financial details were not disclosed.
“Fast Transact’s secure, integrated payment solutions and its experienced management team provide FrontStream with the expertise to partner with merchants and resellers in growing industry segments,” said Emmet Seibels, CEO and Co-founder of FrontStream Payments.
Fast Transact President / CEO, David Solomon, said, “The Fast Transact customized integration technology complement will enhance FrontStream’s electronic transaction processing offerings. Together, we believe this positions the newly combined company to better address customer demands for secure, PCI-compliant processing of Internet and POS payment transactions, data-rich reporting, and value-added services.”
Arsenal executives, Jeffrey Kovach, Carty Chock, and Eugene Gorbach will serve on the Frontstream board.
Frontstream previously raised venture backing from investors who include Atlanta’s Noro-Moseley Partners.
www.frontstreampayments.com
Tags: acqusitions, Arsenal Capital, Atlanta, financings, Internet payments, Nashville, Noro-Moseley, TN
Posted in Acquisitions, Georgia, Internet/New Media, Money, Tennessee | Comments Off
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