It was a lighter deals week for us, but we still saw headlines of funding rounds, partnerships, and stock offerings for companies in Internet, software, and life sciences.
—Boston-based Swaptree, an online marketplace for trading books, CDs, DVDs, and video games, grabbed $4.8 million of a planned $6 million offering based in equity, options, and warrants. The company didn’t reveal the investors in the financing.
—Novell (NASDAQ:[[ticker:NOVL]]), a network software maker, rejected a $2 billion buyout offer from private equity firm Elliott Associates. The Waltham, MA-based company’s board said the $5.75-per-share bid undervalued Novell’s growth prospects, and said that it would pursue other possible strategies for enhancing shareholder value, such as cash dividends or stock repurchases.
—Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ALNY]]), the Cambridge, MA-based drugmaker, received a $20 million payment from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, as part of a partnership deal established between the two companies in 2008 that could ultimately be worth more than $1 billion. This week’s payment was related to Alnylam sharing its RNA interference material and information, but the company stands to pull in more milestone payments and royalties if Japan-based Takeda uses the technology to create RNAi products.
—Another developer of RNA interference-based treatments, RXi Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RXII]]) of Worcester, MA, announced it had raised $16.2 million through a stock offering. Investors agreed to pay $6 per share for 2.7 million shares, a 26 percent discount over the stock’s $8.11 closing share price on Monday. They’ll also purchase warrants for another 540,000 shares.
—SmartCells, a developer of a once-a-day, self-regulating, injectable treatment for diabetes, has pulled in $1.75 million in an equity-based offering, a regulatory filing revealed. The Beverly, MA-based company did not indicate what round of financing the planned $4 million round represents.
