News Briefs

Jason Calcanis has joined Sequoia Capital as an “entrepreneur-in-action” (a.k.a. entrepreneur-in-residence), as first reported by TechCrunch. He recently resigned as general manager of AOL Netscape, which had bought his company Weblogs. He previously published the now-defunct Silicon Alley Reporter magazine. www.sequoiacap.com

Aureos Capital plans to double its capital under management from $600 million to $1.2 billion by 2008/2009. The London-based private equity firm focused on unlisted mid-market companies in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Among the new fund efforts will be a $120 million Central Asia Fund (first close in Q1 2007) and a $300 million […]

ARCIS Group has acquired the entire private equity portfolio of EDF Capital Investissement, the private equity subsidiary of Electricit

Dana LaForge has joined Brera Capital Partners as a partner based in New York. He previously founded private equity firm Colonnade Financial Group and, before that, headed North American financial institutions I-banking at Deutsche Bank. www.brera.com

Service-now.com, a Solana Beach, Calif.-based provider of on-demand IT service management solutions, has raised $5 million in Series B funding from JMI Equity. www.service-now.com

Cathay Industrial Biotech Ltd., a Shanghai, China-based developer of new molecules for use in nylons, fragrances, anticorrosive materials and automobile powder coating, has raised $52 million in Series B funding. New backers include Goldman Sachs, Gramineae Holdings Co., GM Investment Co. and New Horizon Evergreen Investment Co. Returning shareholders include BioVeda China, HBM BioVentures and […]

Kyphon Inc. (Nasdaq: KYPH) has agreed to acquire St. Francis Medical Technologies Inc., an Alameda, Calif.-based developer of motion-preserving technologies and procedures for orthopedic and neurological spine surgery. The deal includes a $525 million upfront cash payment at closing, plus the possibility of revenue-based earn-outs totaling $200 million. St. Francis had been in registration for […]

Kenneth Leet has agreed to join Cerberus Capital Management as president of European operations. Leet is a veteran Goldman Sachs banker who most recently was serving as senior advisor to Ford Motor Co. He will remain as a special advisor to Ford. www.cerberuscapital.com

Replay Solutions, a Foster City, Calif.

Xceleron Ltd., a UK-based provider of drug development services to the life-science market, has raised Gbp2 million in second-round funding. Return backers include Close Ventures and Foursome Inv*stments. It had raised Gbp2 million from Close and Foursome in April 2005. www.xceleron.co.uk