Silicon Valley Wire

Foster City-Based QuinStreet Files to Raise Up to $250 Million in IPO

Foster City, Calif. -- QuinStreet, a Foster City-based provider of online marketing services, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $250 million in its initial public offering (IPO). The 10-year-old company, which had nearly 500 employees, has yet to determine other details of the offering, such as the number of shares to be sold or their expected price range. It plans to trade under the symbol "QNST." QuinStreet focuses its services on the education and financial services industries, making money from clients when people opt-in to specific online marketing programs. The company owns or partners with several vertical content web sites, driving people to the sites through pay-per-click ads on search engines.  Credit Suisse Securities, BofA Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan Securities are underwriting the IPO.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/11/prweb3237044.htm
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1117297/000095012309064388/f53797orsv1.htm

Details Emerge About AOL's Massive Workforce Reductions

New York -- A day after AOL announced plans to cut one-third of its workforce -- up to 2,500 employees -- details are beginning to emerge about specifics of the plan. The Wall Street Journal reported that employees who take "voluntary" layoffs beginning next month will receive 3-9 months of pay and other benefits, depending on their positions. Those who don't volunteer and are later let go only will receive up to four months. Workers also must apply for the voluntary layoffs, with no guarantee that their applications will be accepted, according to the blog Silicon Alley Insider. "This is lousy news for employees, who are faced with a 'jump now or wait to be pushed' decision, but it is designed to cheer investors," wrote Peter Kafka of AllThingsD. The company said in a memo that it will inform workers of its decision in an email between Dec. 16-Jan. 1. The moves will leave AOL about 4,400 employees, down from a high of more than 20,000, and save the company approximately $300 million a year. AOL is scheduled to officially spin out from parent Time Warner on Dec. 9.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AOL-Employees-Have-To-Apply-siliconalley-1965885163.html?x=0&.v=3
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20091119/aol-we-need-to-fire-2500-volunteers/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704204304574545450314795492.html?ru=yahoo&mod=yahoo_hs (subscription required)

Foster City-Based EFI Launches Tender Offer for Shares

Foster City, Calif. -- Electronics For Imaging (EFI), a Foster City-based developer of digital printing technology, said on Friday that it has launched a modified Dutch auction tender offer to buy back up to 4.5 million -- or about 9% -- of its shares. The company said that it will pay $11.25-$12.75 for each share under the offer, which is set to expire on Dec. 18. EFI plans to spend about $70 million in the deal, utilizing proceeds from the sale of real estate holdings earlier this year.
http://www.efi.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20091120005138/en

Senate Committee Approves Nominee for First Copyright Czar

Washington, DC -- The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to approve Victoria Espinel as President Obama's nominee for the newly created position of intellectual property enforcement coordinator -- a role to be better known as the nation's copyright czar. Espinel has served as an advisor on intellectual property issues to the Senate's Judiciary and Finance Committees, as well as the House's Judiciary and House Ways and Means Committees. Most recently she was the founder and president of nonprofit group Bridging the Innovation Divide, as well as a visiting professor at the George Mason University Law School. Her nomination now will go before the full Senate for a vote. If approved, she will be tasked with overseeing the nation's enforcement of intellectual property laws, and with representing U.S. interested in such matters abroad. One of the first issues on her plate is expected to be balancing network neutrality and piracy protection.
http://judiciary.senate.gov/  
http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/judiciary-panel-backs-ip-enfor.php   
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/copyright-czar-vote-heading-to-full-senate/   
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/389856-Commerce_Committee_Approves_Espinel_For_IP_Enforcement_Post.php  

Time Spent Watching Videos on Social Networking Sites Doubles in Year

New York -- Internet users now spend nearly double the amount of time watching videos on social networking sites than they did just one year ago, according to newly released figures from Nielsen. In October, people spent 999.4 million minutes watching videos on sites like Facebook and MySpace, up from 503.8 minutes during the same period in 2008. "During the past year, online video viewing has become central to the web experience," said Jon Gibs, Nielsen's vice president of media analytics. "In conjunction with this increase, we are seeing remarkable growth in video viewing on social networking sites and it is only natural that these two trends would converge in consumers' minds, making sites like Facebook and Myspace.com, increasingly important distribution points for both consumer and professionally generated video." Facebook was the No. 1 online social networking and blog destination in October, with 217.8 million total video streams viewed during the month. Myspace.com and Stickam were No. 2 and No. 3, with 85.2 million and 26.3 million video streams, respectively.
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/time-spent-viewing-video-on-social-networking-sites-up-98-year-over-year-in-october/

Santa Clara-Based Chegg.com Lands $57 Million in Fourth Round

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Chegg.com, a Santa Clara-based online textbook rental company, said on Thursday that it has raised one of the largest funding rounds for a Silicon Valley tech company this year, landing $57 million in its fourth round.  Insight Venture Partners led the round, and also led a syndicate that provide the company with a $25 million credit facility. That's on top of $30 in debt financing that the company recently landed from Pinnacle Ventures and TriplePoint Capital. Chegg, whose service sometimes is referred to as Netflix for textbooks, said that it will use the proceeds to enhance customer service and forge more partnerships with publishers, wholesalers and colleges. The company, which landed previous backing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Gabriel Venture Partners, Primera Capital and Foundation Capital, said that it expects to double its workforce. Launched nationally in 2007, the company said that its service saves students 60%-75% off their textbook bills by renting instead of buying.
http://www.chegg.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cheggcom-secures-112-million-to-fund-explosive-growth-in-online-textbook-rentals-70526017.html

AOL to Cut One-Third of Staff; Voluntary Layoffs to Begin Dec. 4

New York -- Needing to drastically trim costs as it prepares to separate from parent Time Warner, AOL said on Thursday that it plans to trim its workforce by about one-third -- approximately 2,300 workers -- through a combination of voluntary and involuntary layoffs. The company said that the goal of the restructuring is to reduce its annual operating costs by $300 million. In a note to employees, published by the blog Silicon Alley Insider, CEO Tim Armstrong said that voluntary layoffs will be offered Dec. 4-11, with involuntary cuts to follow if the number of takers falls short. Armstrong also reportedly will give up his 2009 bonus, expected to be about $1.5 million. The moves will cost AOL around $200 million in one-time charges. Time Warner announced on Monday said that it plans to complete the spinoff on Dec. 9. AOL currently has about 6,900 employees.
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1468516/000119312509238010/d8k.htm
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AOL-Asks-2500-Employees-To-siliconalley-2344103485.html?x=0&.v=17

Reports: MySpace to Acquire San Francisco-Based imeem

San Francisco -- Online social network MySpace has agreed to acquire San Francisco-based streaming music service imeem for about $1 million, plus several million more in potential earn-outs, according to several industry blogs. At least half of San Francisco-based imeem's 55 staff will be laid off as a result of the acquisition, sources told CNET. The streaming music service, which started in 2003 as a music-focused social networking application, will likely remain a standalone service for a while, but a source told CNET that imeem may eventually be folded into MySpace Music.
http://www.imeem.com
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-10401292-261.html
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/18/myspace-signs-agreement-to-acquire-imeem/
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20091118/done-deal-myspace-buys-imeem-for-up-to-10-million/

Mountain View-Based NeoEdge to Merge with Offspring

Mountain View, Calif. - NeoEdge, a Mountain View-based provider of in-game video ad insertion services, said on Thursday that it will merge with Offspring, a casual and social games company founded and headed by former Pogo.com executives Lesley Mansford, Andrew Pedersen, Karen Schulman and Todd Heringer. Financial  terms of the deal were not disclosed. Mansford will become the new CEO of the combined company, which will maintain its in-game ad service, while also developing its own casual and social games. NeoEdge raised $4 million in its first round of financing in September.
http://www.neoedge.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20091119/bs_prweb/prweb3232374_1

San Francisco-Based Terracotta Acquires Quarts Job Scheduler

San Francisco -- Terracotta, a San Francisco-based developer of infrastructure software, said on Thursday that it has acquired Quartz, the privately held open source job scheduling software. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company said that Quartz has "tens of thousands" of deployments at companies such as Vodafone, Level 3, Cisco and Adobe, and also is built into products made by companies such as Atlassian, SpringSource and Red Hat. Terracotta said that it now plans to integrate the software into its own platform.
http://www.terracottatech.com
http://www.quartz-scheduler.org/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20091119005335/en

San Francisco-Based IPWireless Lands $15.5 Million in First Round

San Francisco -- IPWireless, a San Francisco-based developer of mobile broadband and broadcast technology, said on Wednesday that it has raised $15.5 million in its first round of funding, led by Boston-based Spark Capital. The company plans to use the proceeds to expand its platform into both the government and commercial markets. IPWireless makes chipsets, devices and software that allow the 3GPP mobile standard to support a new range of applications and spectrum bands. Clients, including T-Mobile and New York City's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, use the products to deliver new wireless services.
http://www.ipwireless.com
http://www.ipwireless.com/news/pressreleases/press111809

Milpitas-Based FireEye Lands New Investment from CIA-Backed In-Q-Tel

Milpitas, Calif. -- FireEye, a Milpitas-based developer of malware protection systems, said on Wednesday that it has landed a new investment as part of a larger technology development deal with In-Q-Tel, the Virginia-based venture fund backed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. FireEye's technology is designed to detect advanced malware by replaying suspicious web and network traffic flows through virtual machines. The results allow customers to properly secure their networks. The latest deal will allow the company to extend those capabilities. FireEye previously had raised $34.5 million since its inception in 2004, including a $14.5 million round led by DAG Ventures in May 2008.
http://www.iqt.org
http://www.fireeye.com/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20091118005766/en

S.F.Based 1020 Placecast Lands $5M for Location-based Marketing

San Francisco -- 1020 Placecast, the San Francisco-based developer of a location-based marketing system, said on Wednesday that it has raised $5 million in its second round of funding. Investors included Quatrex Capital, as well as previous backers Onset Ventures and Voyager Capital. 1020 Placecast's platform is designed to use digital marketing on the web and mobile to drive consumers into physical environments. The company plans to use the proceeds to drive the adoption of feature that lets clients connect with consumers' mobile phones, based on their specific location. Current partners include NAVTEQ and Alcatel-Lucent, and marketers include FedEx Office, Avis and Budget Rental Cars and Hyatt Hotels.
http://www.placecast.net
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/11/prweb3222984.htm

Sunnyvale-Based AMD to Raise $500M in Offering, Buy Back Notes

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- AMD, the Sunnyvale-based chip-maker, said on Wednesday that it plans to raise $500 million through a private offering of senior notes due in 2017. The company will use the proceeds, plus cash on hand, to buy up to $1 billion of convertible senior notes due in 2012. Part of the money to buy back the notes will come from the $1.25 billion that AMD received in its recent settlement with Santa Clara-based rival Intel.
http://www.amd.com/us/press-releases/Pages/amd-announces-500-mil-of-sr-nts2009nov18.aspx
http://www.amd.com/us/press-releases/Pages/amd-commences-convrtble-notes2009nov18.aspx

Area Venture Capitalists Dominate Inaugural AlwaysOn VC 100 List

San Francisco -- Seven venture capitalists from Menlo Park-based Sequoia Capital and five from Palo Alto's Accel Partners head the inaugural AlwaysOn VC 100 list. which aims to recognize venture capitalists with the most exit success over the past four years. To compile the list, San Francisco-based media firm AlwaysOn culled data from research partners Morgan Stanley, VentureDeal and the 451 Group, sorting through more than 700 active venture capitalists, 1,400 VC investments and 1,000 technology liquidity events. The winners were selected based on total number and dollar amounts of successful M&A and IPO deals from their portfolio companies. AlwaysOn said that the list represents the best opinion of its editors, since much of the information needed to make it truly accurate remains private. The complete list is available at the link below.  
http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/34032

Redwood City-Based RockYou Lands $50 Million in Funding

Redwood City, Calif. -- RockYou, a Redwood City-based developer of social network applications and advertising technology, has raised $50 million in its fourth round of venture capital financing, coming entirely from previous investor Softbank. The company now has raised $118 million since its inception in 2005. RockYou develops social networking applications, and also serves ads within its own and other developers' applications. RockYou claims 213 million unique users a month on its social media ad network, which include the company's popular photo slideshow for MySpace and Facebook's Superwall. The news comes a year after the company closed its third round at $52 million, including a $35 million tranche led by DCM. Other backers include Sequoia Capital, Partech International and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
http://www.rockyou.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rockyou-secures-50-million-in-series-d-funding-from-returning-investor-softbank-70314117.html

Santa Clara-Based Applied Materials to Acquire Semitool

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Applied Materials, the Santa Clara-based developer of equipment, services and software used to make semiconductors, said on Tuesday that it will pay approximately $364 million in cash to acquire Montana-based Semitool, a supplier of electrochemical plating and wafer surface preparation equipment used by chip packaging and chip making companies. Under the deal, approved by the boards of both companies, Applied Materials will launch a cash tender offer, paying $11 a share. The company said that the acquisition will give it a broader range of products, as well as expands its reach to a new set of customers in the semiconductor packaging industry. Semitool will be operated as a business unit of Applied’s Silicon Systems Group.
http://www.appliedmaterials.com/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20091117005719/en

Report: MySpace in Talks to Acquire Music Streamer imeem

San Francisco -- Online social network MySpace is in "late stage negotiations" to acquire San Francisco-based music streaming service imeem, TechCrunch reported, citing multiple unnamed sources. Founded in 2003, imeem started as a music-focused social network application, but more recently has concentrated on music streaming. imeem has raised at least $25 million in funding, with its service attracting 16 million unique visitors in September, according to comScore. Should the deal go through, it would mark MySpace's second major streaming music service acquisition of the year, following its deal for iLike three months ago.
http://www.imeem.com
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/16/myspace-close-to-acquiring-imeem/
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20091117/confirmed-myspace-looking-to-buy-imeem/

S.F.-Based Zynga Raises $15.1M for Casual Social Games

San Francisco -- Zynga, a San Francisco-based publisher of casual games on social networks, has raised $15.1 million in its third round of funding, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing. Investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Foundry Group and Reid Hoffman. Zynga's casual game titles include "Mafia Wars" on Facebook. Earlier this month, the company acquired virtual pets firm GoPets, following its earlier acquisition of virtual world firm MyMiniLife. To date, the company has raised over $54 million in financing.
http://www.zynga.com
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-zynga-adds-15.1-million-more-in-funding/

Redwood City-Based Bigfoot Networks Raises $8 million

Redwood City, Calif. -- Bigfoot Networks, a Redwood City-based maker of gaming network cards, said on Tuesday that it has raised $8 million in its second round of funding, co-led by previous investors North Bridge Venture Partners, Palomar Ventures and Raven Venture Partners. The company, which now has raised $20.75 million since its inception, said that it will use the proceeds to fund product development, as well as expand its go-to-market capabilities. Bigfoot also has named former Polycom executive Wayne Dunlap as its vice president of engineering and added veteran consumer technology executive Greg Ballard to its board of directors. Bigfoot Networks currently sells gaming network cards inside PCs from Dell and Alienware, as well as rigs from several specialized gaming PC manufacturers. Its cards also are sold as a separate add-in product for gamers through e-tail and retail channels.
http://www.bigfootnetworks.com
http://www.bigfootnetworks.com/bigfoot-networks-secures-8-million-series-b-funding/

Time Warner To Spin Off AOL on Dec. 9 with Valuation of $3.5B

New York -- Time Warner announced on Monday evening that it plans to spin off its AOL unit on Dec. 9. Shareholders of Time Warner will be given one share of AOL stock for every 11 shares of Time Warner they own. Time Warner said in a statement that the spinoff "will result in the complete legal and structural separation of the two companies." After the transaction, AOL -- which has a growing presence in Mountain View -- will have a market value of about $3.5 billion, based on current share prices. AOL's shares will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "AOL" beginning Dec. 10. TMZ, the popular Hollywood gossip blog that is one of AOL's most successful media assets, will not be part of the spinoff, but instead will remain part of Time Warner.
http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1939809,00.html

Fremont-Based QuorumLabs Secures $5.3 Million in First Round

Fremont, Calif. -- QuorumLabs, a Fremont-based developer of business continuity tools for small and midsize businesses, said on Tuesday that it has raised $5.3 million in its first round of funding. The company said that the lead investor in the round also was the lead backer of Themis Computer, the company that incubated QuorumLabs for three years before spinning it out in 2008. The company plans to use the funds to expand its reseller channel, increase its profile and continue expansion into the U.S. market. QuorumLabs now has received more than $10 million in funding, including its incubation period.
http://www.quorumlabs.com
http://www.quorumlabs.com/pr_2009-11-17/

Popularity of Entertainment Subscriptions Stays Strong, Despite Economy

Port Washington, N.Y. -- While fewer Americans subscribe to newspapers and magazines, the subscription model is continuing to maintain popularity in areas such as television, music, games and mobile services, according to a new report from market research firm NPD Group. As of August, 81% of U.S. households subscribed to a pay-TV service, while 76% paid for  Internet access, 17% subscribed to satellite radio or an online music service and 14% paid for online game services. Overall per-capita spending by U.S. consumers on entertainment-related subscriptions rose to $115 this year, an increase of 7% over 2008 levels. "Despite concerns that the recession would cause consumers to reduce spending on entertainment subscription services, most forms of subscription entertainment are doing just fine," said NPD analyst Russ Crupnick. "Consumers are clearly looking to the value offered by entertainment subscriptions and like what they get for their money; plus, new technologies and products have helped bolster data plans and other newer kinds of subscription-based services."
http://www.npd.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20091116005957/en