Legal
SEC

Reg D Offerings, Online Deal Platforms Proliferate in Wake of Repeal of General Solicitation Ban

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Barely a month has passed since the SEC’s repeal of the ban on advertising Reg D private placement offerings became effective, and private placement agents have seized upon the new freedom to use online platforms to tout their deals. The agency said last week that more than $1 billion have been raised in 214 solicited private placements since the ban was officially lifted on Sept. 23. In statements to reporters following his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, the SEC’s director of the division of corporation finance Keith Higgins said that there had been 170 news offerings that used the general solicitation safe harbor under Rule 506(c) of Regulation D to raise capital since the new rule became effective. An additional 44 offering that were commenced prior to the new rule’s effective date converted to 506(c) deals after Sept.

Markets
OrbiMed

OrbiMed Closes Fifth Healthcare Fund

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OrbiMed Advisors has closed its OrbiMed Private Investments V with just over $735 million, including $36 million from the general partner. Fund V will invest in all stages and sectors of the healthcare industry, with a focus on biopharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostics companies in North American and Europe. Investors in the fund include some of the largest endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds and financial institutions globally. OrbiMed Advisors is an long active investor in equity private placements into emerging growth biotechs and medical device companies. Recent investments include Exact Sciences Corp (EXAS), ADADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) and Aerocrine AB (AEROB:SS).

Markets

North Bridge Raises $580M for Second Growth Equity Fund

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Boston-area based North Bridge Growth Equity has raised a second growth equity fund, announcing it has more than $580 million in committed cash to bankroll emerging growth companies that have a technology focus. This brings North Bridge Growth Equity’s total capital under management to more than $1.1 billion. North Bridge Growth Equity II will continue its strategy of investing primarily in privately held, technology and tech-enabled businesses that are entrepreneur owned and managed, and have grown to tens of millions in revenue with little or no outside capital. North Bridge’s growth equity arm launched in 2007 with a $545 million fund. It lists 12 portfolio companies for that fund including publicly traded parts manufacturer Proto Labs (NYSE: PRLB) and Manchester, NH-based Dyn, a provider of online services such as DNS and e-mail delivery.

Deals

Rosenfeld Brings Fourth SPAC to Market with $84M IPO of Quartet Merger Corp.

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SPAC sponsor Eric Rosenfeld has successfully completed the initial public offering of his fourth special purpose acquisition company, with the $84 million offering of the aptly named Quartet Merger Corp. (QTETU) last week. Quartet sold 8.4 million units consisting of a class A common share and one-tenth of a class B share at $10 each. The class B shares convert to an equivalent amount of class A shares upon completion of a merger with an operating company. The unit structure is somewhat unique in that it does not include any warrants, which can significantly dilute common shareholders upon exercise.