Weekly Deal Roundup

Skyterra announces going-private transaction
SkyTerra (OTCBB: SKYT) announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement for SkyTerra to be acquired by a new corporation formed and indirectly wholly-owned by Harbinger Capital Partners Master Fund I, Ltd and Harbinger Capital Partners Special Situations Fund, L.P. Under the terms of the agreement, the new corporation will pay $5.00 in cash per share for each of SkyTerra’s outstanding shares of common stock not held by Harbinger or its affiliates. The purchase price represents a premium of approximately 56% over the average closing price of SkyTerra’s common stock for the thirty days ended September 22, 2009, the last day before the announcement of the proposed transaction. Harbinger and its affiliates together hold approximately 48% of SkyTerra’s outstanding voting common stock and approximately 49% of SkyTerra’s voting and non-voting common stock combined.
The transaction is the culmination of a thorough evaluation of SkyTerra’s strategic alternatives by a special committee of SkyTerra’s Board of Directors composed solely of independent directors. The special committee was assisted in its evaluation by its independent financial advisor, Morgan Stanley & Co., and counsel, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Harbinger was assisted by its financial advisor, UBS Investment Bank, and counsel, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.
The merger agreement has been approved by the special committee as well as the full Board of Directors of SkyTerra. The transaction is subject to approval by the holders of a majority of SkyTerra’s outstanding voting common stock, and to regulatory approvals, including approval of the Federal Communications Commission, and other closing conditions.
It is anticipated that the transaction will be consummated in late 2009 or early 2010.
For more see the entire press release.
Deutsche Telekom said to be in talks with Clearwire, MetroPCS
Bloomberg is reporting that Deutsche Telekom is in talks with Clearwire and MetroPCS to gain access to their 4G suitable spectrum. For more see the story at Bloomberg.com.
Ensequence secures $20 million in new funding
Ensequence, the interactive television company, announced that it has secured an additional $20 million in funding. This latest investment of capital will allow Ensequence to continue leading the television industry in creating and deploying the most engaging interactive television experiences.
“We’ve made significant strides to position ourselves at the forefront of the interactive television industry,” Peter Low, President and CEO of Ensequence, said. “The latest round of funding allows us to build on our strong momentum – enabling us to continue offering programmers, distributors and advertisers the most compelling interactive experiences available. This funding represents an extreme vote of confidence in Ensequence in a challenging business environment.”
Clay Mathile, CEO of CYMI Technologies and former CEO and owner of the Iams Company led the latest round.
Ensequence enables programmers, advertisers, and distributors to make TV even more powerful and engaging. It eliminates the technical complexities of interactive television and allows customers to quickly and affordably deliver a high volume of compelling iTV experiences to the broadest possible audience on every distribution platform – including cable, satellite, and IPTV.
For more, see the entire press release.
NextG Networks secures equity investment from group led by Madison Dearborn Partners
NextG Networks, Inc., a provider of fiber fed distributed antenna systems (DAS systems) that enhance network coverage, capacity and performance for wireless carriers, announced that it has secured an all-equity investment from a group of investors led by Madison Dearborn Partners. As a result of the transaction, which also includes Accel Partners, Redpoint Ventures and Meritech Capital Partners, the group of investors has acquired a majority ownership position in NextG with Madison Dearborn as the largest shareholder. The investment provides NextG with added financial strength and operational expertise to build on its past success and continue to execute its proven strategy of providing high-quality service to its wireless carrier customers while allowing for expansion of its geographic presence.
NextG builds, owns and leases fiber optic DAS systems that can support cellular, PCS, WiMax and other wireless services under one integrated, protocol-agnostic platform.
For more, see the entire press release.
Perfecto Mobile raises $7 million from Carmel Ventures and Vertex Venture Capital
Perfecto Mobile, a provider of remote access and automated testing solutions for mobile devices, today announced that it has closed a $7 million second round of financing. The sum was raised from existing investors: Carmel Ventures and Vertex Venture Capital. Perfecto Mobile will use the proceeds of this financing round to expand its Handset Cloud testing service as well as for ramping up marketing and sales activities.
Perfecto Mobile’s Handset Cloud service enables developers and testers to test their mobile phone applications over the web on a multitude of real handsets of various platforms, such as Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile, and J2ME.
For more see the entire press release.
XConnect Raises $10 Million in Series B funding
XConnect, a provider of neutral and secure next-generation interconnection and ENUM-registry services, announced it has raised $10 million in Series B funding.
A consortium of investors, including Venrock Associates (U.S.), Accel Partners (U.K.), Grazia Equity (Germany) and Crescent Point Group (Singapore), participated.
The financing will enable London-based XConnect to continue expanding its “Interconnect 2.0” portfolio, which includes Carrier ENUM-registry and multimedia interconnection hub services.
For more see the entire press release.
Connecticut Innovations makes follow-on investment in Keisense Inc.
Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for technology investing and innovation development, today announced that it has made a follow-on investment of up to $250,000 in Keisense Inc. of Hartford, Conn., through its Eli Whitney Fund. This is CI’s third investment in the company.
Keisense offers advanced text input and user experience solutions for mobile devices, Internet-connected TVs and gaming consoles. Its patent pending technology, PriText, enables intuitive and error tolerant input on mobile devices and facilitates interactive and social networking applications on TV and set-top boxes.
For more see the entire press release.