Iris Dorbian
First Read begins the week with news that 861,000 high-risk South Florida homes don't have flood insurance, Facebook is willing to spend as much as $1 billion to develop original shows, and Chinese authorities plan to shut down domestic bitcoin exchanges.
North Signal Capital and Westport Capital Partners have acquired two industrial sites at Charleston, South Carolina-based North Pointe Commerce Park. The seller was WestRock. No financial terms were disclosed.
In Second Opinion, Uber faces an FBI probe over a program targeting rival Lyft, Florida insurance stocks get hammered as Hurricane Irma looms and Equifax is hit with a class-action lawsuit as a result of the data breach.
Mercer Advisors, which is backed by Genstar Capital, has acquired Little Neck, New York and Boynton Beach, Florida-based Ray Mignone Associates, a provider of financial planning and investment management services. No financial terms were disclosed.
Pendo has acquired Tel Aviv-based Insert, a mobile engagement platform. No financial terms were disclosed. Insert's backers included Battery Ventures.
Baldwin Technology Company Inc, which is backed by BW Forsyth Partners, has agreed to acquire Ahlbrandt System GmbH, a German provider of corona treatment, spray coating and hot air drying products. No financial terms were disclosed. The deal is expected to close on September 30, 2017.
Counsel On Call, a portfolio company of Gridiron Capital, has acquired Nashville-based DSicovery, a digital forensics and data management company. No financial terms were disclosed.
Placement agent Eaton Partners, a subsidiary of Stifel Financial Corp, has expanded its team with five new hires. Joining the company are Craig White as a managing director to the distribution team based in the Rowayton office; Daniel Rosenthal Ayash as a vice president in the London office within the distribution team; Aki Islam as a vice president in the London office within the project management team; Nina Yang as a director in the Hong Kong office within the origination/project management team; and Ryan Haselden as a senior associate in the Houston office within the origination/project management team.
NewSpring has made an undisclosed investment in Parsippany, New Jersey-based Atlantic Metro, a managed IT infrastructure service provider. Q Advisors LLC served as financial adviser to Atlantic Metro. In conjunction with the transaction, Anne Vazquez will join Atlantic Metro's board of directors.
UK-based Replimune, a developer of oncolytic immunotherapy, has closed $55 million in Series B financing. Foresite Capital led the round with participation from other investors that included Bain Capital Life Sciences, Redmile Group, Cormorant Asset Management, Leerink Partners, Atlas Venture, Forbion Capital Partners and Omega Funds. In addition to the funding, Dr. Brett Zbar of Foresite Capital and Dr. Kapil Dhingr, the former head of clinical oncology at Roche, will join Replimune's board of directors.