New England’s corporate attorneys must have been working overtime, because the last week saw an unusual amount of deals activity—particularly in public and private stock offerings.
—Citing market conditions, Elixir Pharmaceuticals pulled its IPO. The Cambridge, MA-based firm, which is developing treatments for diabetes, obesity, and other metabolic diseases, had already postponed the offering back in January.
—Two other New England firms evidently missed the memo about those market conditions. Essex, CT, wind-power firm Noble Environmental Power filed for an IPO worth up to $375 million. And Lexington, MA’s Gomez, which offers “web experience management services” filed for an offering worth up to $80.5 million.
—Boston-based cellulosic ethanol firm Mascoma announced it has received a $10 million equity investment from oil giant Marathon, as par of its Series C round. The announcement sent Wade on a marathon math session aimed at accounting for all the components of the round, which for months has been a moving (and partially obscured) target.
—Javelin Pharmaceuticals (AMEX: [[ticker:JAV]]), a developer of pain treatments in Cambridge, MA, announced it plans to raise up to $27.6 million in a registered direct offering of stock. The purpose of the deal, which is expected to close on May 13, is to “enhance our balance sheet as we proceed in our ongoing partnership discussions,” the company said in a press release.
—CHiL Semiconductor of Tewksbury, MA, closed a $16.68 million Series C round led by Panorama Capital.
—Waltham, MA-based InnoCentive, an Eli Lilly spinoff formed to farm out challenging projects to the a community of “solvers” on the Web, raised $6.5 million in a round led by Spencer Trask Ventures.
—Virtualization software firm Leostream of Waltham, MA, raised $3 million in a Series A round led by Meakem Becker Venture Capital.
—Boston energy demand aggregator EnerNOC acquired Baltimore’s South River Consulting for $3 million in cash and $1.75 million in EnerNOC common shares, with additional payments on the table if the acquired unit hits certain revenue targets over the next two years.
—Educational software firm Certica Solutions of Wakefield, MA, took in $3.3 million in a financing round led by Brook Venture Partners.
—Wellesley, MA’s Frame Media announced a Series A-1 investment round worth $3 million. The deal was led by Longworth Venture Partners and CommonAngels and brings the company’s total funding to $5.2 million.
—Semiconductor firm AmberWave Systems of Salem, NH, announced it’s acquiring Aonex Technologies, a subsidiary of Pasadena, CA-based Arrowhead Research, for $7.95 million plus royalties.
—Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ALNY]]) announced that Novartis had exercised an option to purchase approximately $5.4 million worth of the RNAi leader’s unregistered shares. The deal increases Novartis’s stake in Alnylam from 13 percent to 13.4 percent.
