The holiday weekend hasn’t seemed to slow down deal-making in New England. We’ve seen acquisitions, funding rounds, and even an IPO registration for companies in the life sciences, software, and energy spaces.
—Drugmaker giant Pfizer said it had agreed to purchase FoldRx Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of drugs for rare diseases like the neurodegenerative disorder called TTR amyloid polyneuropathy. Pfizer (NYSE: [[ticker:PFE]]) didn’t reveal how much it paid for FoldRx, which has disclosed financing rounds that total about $88 million and come from venture backers such as Alta Partners, Fidelity Biosciences, Healthcare Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures, Novartis Venture Funds, Novo Ventures, and TPG Biotechnology.
—Hopkinton, MA-based EMC’s (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]) virtualization business unit, VMware, scooped up two California startups, Integrien and TriCipher, to add to its cloud computing efforts. Palo Alto, CA-based VMware (NYSE: [[ticker:VMW]]) did not reveal how much it paid for the firms, though other media reports have said the Integrien deal was worth about $100 million. Integrien’s software is designed to add feedback and intelligence to virtual applications, while the TriCipher technology adds a layer of security to Internet cloud-based products.
—Human resources software and services company Kenexa (NASDAQ: [[ticker:KNXA]]) announced its plans to acquire Needham, MA-based Salary.com for a total of $80 million, or $4.07 per share, in cash. Salary.com makes on-demand software for managing employee pay and performance.
—Lebanon, NH-based biofuels technology company Mascoma bought the SunOpta BioProcess unit of food and mineral company SunOpta (NASDAQ: [[ticker:STKL]]) for about $51 million, according to Canada-based SunOpta. Mascoma will turn the SunOpta BioProcess business into a subsidiary called Mascoma Canada, and will use the technology to improve its process for converting raw, plant-based material into fuel for automobiles.
—Vela Systems, a Burlington, MA-based maker of software for managing construction, architecture, and engineering applications on mobile devices, said it raised $6 million in Series B equity-based funding, led by new investor Autodesk (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ADSK]]). The financing, which also comes from existing investors Commonwealth Capital Ventures, GrandBanks Capital, and individual investors, will go to
