Millennium Technology Value Partners, L.P.,
Closes New Fund
Focused on Unique Approach to Venture Capital and Technology Investing
New York, May 8, 2006—Millennium Technology Value Partners, L.P. (TVP),
announced today that it has closed its latest fund with approximately $130 million
in committed capital, significantly above the fund’s initial target of
$100 million. TVP, the fourth fund in the Millennium family of private equity
funds, is dedicated to the firm’s value-centric investment thesis, which
seeks to blend the best of venture capital and value investing styles in a wide
range of transaction formats. These include direct secondary acquisitions of
private equity securities, restructurings and recapitalizations, corporate spinoffs,
leveraged buyouts, public market PIPEs, going private transactions and a variety
of special situations.
At the core of the TVP fund is its special focus (and demonstrated track record)
in providing liquidity to holders of venture capital-type assets, a marketplace
that has historically lacked an efficient source of liquidity. Over the past
four years, TVP and its predecessor funds have provided liquidity and other portfolio
management solutions to corporations, hedge funds, mutual funds, venture capital
funds, bankruptcy process constituents, angel investors, founders, and senior
management teams. In aggregate, TVP and its predecessor funds have been involved
in transactions representing approximately $500 million of invested capital.
The TVP portfolio has already begun to take shape through investments in a
group of leading technology companies that includes Tellme Networks, Inc.; Airvana,
Inc.; Wayport, Inc.; Vendare Media Corporation; Questia Media, Inc.; Multiplex,
Inc.; and Axsun Technologies, Inc. The weighted average TVP portfolio company
now has in excess of $100 million of revenue, $20 million of EBITDA and $55 million
of cash.
The fund’s first investment, a Debtor-In-Possession facility that provided
liquidity and working capital to First Virtual Communications, a small publicly-traded
company going through the bankruptcy process, was realized in 2005 through a
sale to RADVISION Ltd. (NASDAQ:RVSN), yielding a 2x return in less than two months.
“We are dedicated to creating ‘win-win’ partnerships in
our transactions, which is why over 60% of our past transaction partners have
returned to complete additional transactions with Millennium,” observed
Samuel L. Schwerin, Managing Partner of Millennium. “We have designed the
fund so that we can invest in leading companies through a very wide array of
transaction formats—debt and equity, common and preferred stock, public
and private, individual direct investments, portfolios of assets, limited partnership
interests, intellectual property assets, spin-offs of non-core operating assets,
restructuring and bankruptcy situations, and more. The common theme in all these
situations is our willingness to work with sellers, asset holders, and existing
investors to help them achieve their liquidity goals, add value, and contribute
to the success of the companies we invest in.”
Among Millennium’s past transaction partners have been Dell, Scientific-Atlanta,
Bowman Capital, OppenheimerFunds, Alliance Capital Management, Dreyfus Corp.,
the Enron bankruptcy, the Exodus Communications bankruptcy, and the founders
or senior managers of a number of leading private technology companies.
The Millennium team has completed more then 40 value-centric investments in
the past three years. Several of the investments made to date have already achieved
positive realizations. In addition to First Virtual, these include secondary
investments in Dov Pharmaceutical (prior to the company’s Initial Public
Offering; Nasdaq: DOVP), Agility Communications (subsequently sold to JDS Uniphase;
Nasdaq: JDSU), Requisite Technologies (subsequently sold to Click Commerce; Nasdaq:
CKCM); and PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity) investments in Internap
Network Services (Amex: IIP) and Indus International (Nasdaq: IINT).
“We have made significant strides in building a firm, a fund, and a
team that is capable of finding value where it isn’t always apparent, and
helping companies, management teams, and investors realize their strategic goals,” noted
Daniel L. Burstein, Managing Partner. “We have attracted an investor base
from among hedge funds, family offices, foundations, and world-leading private
equity and investment firms who share our strategic desire to create a risk-mitigated,
value-added approach to investing in late stage, new technology and emerging
growth companies.”
In addition to Managing Partners Sam Schwerin and Dan Burstein, the TVP professional
team includes Max Chee, Principal; Richard Chow, Vice-President; Dan Borok, Senior
Associate; and Michael Minars, Chief Financial Officer.
For more information about Millennium Technology Value Partners, L.P., please
visit the website: www.mtvlp.com
Contacts:
Samuel L. Schwerin
Managing Partner
646.521.7800
Schwerin@mtvlp.com
Daniel L. Burstein
Managing Partner
646.521.7800
Burstein@mtvlp.com
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