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- Constella Group Raises $61 Million and Acquires Futures Group
- Icagen Sets IPO Share Price and Extends Abbott Agreement
- Stinger Systems Acquires QuestTek Electronics
- Metabolon to Collaborate with High Q Foundation on Biomarker Study
- Peak 10, TelCove Combine to Provide Technology Services for American Tobacco District
- WUNC-FM to Launch Southeast Bureau of Nationally Distributed “Marketplace” Program
- North Carolina Rural Outreach Collaborative Picked as Finalist for Kellogg Grant
- Seven More Companies Selected for CED's Venture 2005
Constella Group Raises $61 Million and Acquires Futures Group
Durham-based Constella Group (www.constellagroup.com) has closed on a $61 million round of equity and debt financing. Wachovia Capital Partners and Wakefield Group provided the funds for the deal. It is the first round of institutional equity financing for Constella Group in the company's 22-year history.
Constella plans to use the financing to expand services to its public- and private-sector clients and to grow its market presence across the health-care value chain through acquisitions. This process has already begun, as the company also announced that it has acquired Futures Group, Inc., a provider of public health program in developing countries. Futures Group will operate as a subsidiary of Constella and keep its name. The purchase nearly doubled the size and revenues of Constella, and expanded its international presence to more than 55 other countries.
Constella Group is a CED Member.
Wakefield Group is a CED Member.
Icagen Sets IPO Share Price and Extends Abbott Agreement
Durham-based Icagen (www.icagen.com) said that it plans to set its initial stock offering price between $10-$12 a share. The company, which began its IPO filing process in April 2004, made this recent disclosure through securities regulators. The company plans to issue 5 million shares of stock in the price range, resulting in potentially $48-$56 million of capital for the company. If Icagen is able to complete the IPO process, it would be the first Triangle drug development company to enter public markets through an IPO in over 2 years.
In addition to the IPO developments, Icagen has also extended its research and development agreement with Abbott (www.abbott.com). The partnership will work to discover and develop small molecule drugs that target a specific ion channel for the treatment of neuropathic and inflammatory pain. As part of the deal, Abbott will continue to provide R&D support through the end of 2005. The molecular target is one of several ion channel targets Icagen has identified for the treatment of pain. Icagen officials believe that the particular ion target could lead to new therapeutics which may offer advantages over current drugs. The Icagen/Abbott agreement continues a partnership that was initiated in 2001.
Icagen is a CED Member.
Stinger Systems Acquires QuestTek Electronics
Charlotte-based Stinger Systems (www.stingersystems.com) has acquired California-based QuestTek Electronics. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. As part of the deal, Stinger acquired QuestTek's complete line of military, police, homeland security, and Hazardous Materials audio and video products.
Stinger is a provider of stun technologies to police, prison, and security sectors worldwide. Company officials believe that the acquired technology will become a big part of the company's military, homeland security and HazMat products. Stinger plans to integrate the technology into its current product line as well as develop completely new products with unique functionalities.
Metabolon to Collaborate with High Q Foundation on Biomarker Study
RTP-based Metabolon (www.metabolon.com) will collaborate with the High Q Foundation on a new biomarker study for Huntington's Disease (HD) - a degenerative brain disorder that at present has no effective treatment or cure. More than a quarter of a million Americans have HD or are at risk of inheriting the disease from an affected parent.
Metabolon and High Q researchers will use Metabolon's platform technology to analyze plasma samples for HD signatures. In turn, the researchers hope to define biomarkers that will differentiate between early-stage and late-stage samples of the disease. Metabolon has previously had success in differentiating disease groups in the blood samples of ALS patients.
Metabolon is a CED Member.
Peak 10, TelCove Combine to Provide Technology Services for American Tobacco District
Morrisville-based Peak 10 (www.peak10.com) and TelCove are combining resources to provide connectivity, bandwidth and data center services to the American Tobacco Historic District tenant population. TelCove has created a fiber ring connection between its Durham hub in the Historic Tobacco District and Peak 10's Morrisville data center. The technology upgrade will hopefully attract more businesses to Durham's American Tobacco Historic District.
Durham's American Tobacco Historic District is the revitalization of Durham's most prominent downtown industrial complex. It includes over a million square feet of mixed-use space incorporates restaurants, residences and class A offices, all of which are located next to the Durham Bulls baseball park.
Peak 10 is a CED Member.
WUNC-FM to Launch Southeast Bureau of Nationally Distributed “Marketplace” Program
Chapel Hill-based WUNC-91.5 FM (www.wunc.org) has inked a major deal to host the Southeast bureau of “Marketplace,” a business-based half-hour show that runs during peak driving times across the country. “Marketplace,” a nationally distributed public radio program produced by American Public Media, has other U.S. bureaus in Boston, Miami, Washington, New York and Los Angeles. The business program reaches 7.9 million listeners each week and airs on more than 330 public radio stations each weekday.
The Southeast bureau of “Marketplace,” set to launch in Spring 2005, will have a full-time reporter filing stories on business news in the Triangle and other parts of the region. “It'll be an opportunity to showcase much of what the state is doing for an audience that might not know much about North Carolina,” Joan Siefert Rose, WUNC's general manager, told the Durham Herald-Sun.
North Carolina Rural Outreach Collaborative Picked as Finalist for Kellogg Grant
The North Carolina Rural Outreach Collaborative has been picked as one of six finalists nationally to receive a rural entrepreneurship grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The N.C. Collaborative represents support groups from more than 85 rural NC counties who want to encourage economic development through entrepreneurship. Four of the six finalists will be named winners in the coming weeks, where they will each receive a $2 million grant designed to encourage the advancement of rural regional entrepreneurship development systems.
The NC group was picked as a finalist from among 180 similar groups who responded to a request for proposals. Each group had to be collaborations of groups and entities capable of integrating policy, education, training, technical assistance, financing, networks, culture, and social entrepreneurship strategies. The grant money will be used to promote entrepreneurial activity in the region, create entrepreneurial models for other communities, and to stimulate national and state awareness in rural entrepreneurship policies and strategies. CED is among the North Carolina institutional partners assisting with the grant.
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