Silicon Valley Wire

Mountain View-Based Intuit to Sell Websites Business to Endurance

Mountain View, Calif. -- Intuit, the Mountain View-based provider of business and financial management tools such as QuickBooks, Quicken and TurboTax, said it will sell its Intuit Websites business to Massachusetts-based Endurance International Group, a provider of hosting, domains and online tools for small businesses. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.  The business, which contributed $76 million in revenue for Intuit in fiscal 2012, provides services designed to help small businesses create and enhance their online presence. "With this acquisition, Endurance will add the intuitive and adaptable website builder that Intuit developed, which will provide immediate benefits to our customers and strategic value to our company," said Endurance founder and CEO Hari Ravichandran. Endurance currently provides web hosting services to 2.9 million customers and manages 10 million domains.
http://www.intuit.com
http://www.enduranceinternational.com/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120815006100/en/Endurance-International-Group-Purchase-Intuit-Websites-Business

Report: Redwood City-Based EA Quietly Exploring Sale

Redwood City, Calif. -- Electronic Arts (EA), the Redwood City-based developer and publisher of video games, is quietly exploring a sale of the company, the New York Post reported on Thursday. The company reportedly has been approached by private-equity giants KKR and Providence Equity Partners. "They've made it known they’d do a deal at $20 a share," an unnamed source told the Post. The news helped drive shares of EA up 5.5% to $13.81 in Thursday's trading on the Nasdaq.
http://www.ea.com
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/mad_for_madden_3lyqSl04ZEpZeO9Zmh81GI

Western Digital Cuts 80 Jobs at Fremont Facility

Fremont, Calif. -- Western Digital, an Irvine-based maker of components used in hard drives, has laid off 80 workers at its facility in Fremont, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The cuts, which represent about 6% of the company's staff, also laid off 107 workers at the same facility in 2009. The company, which recently announced $12.5 billion in revenue and $1.6 billion in net income for the past fiscal year, calls Fremont the hub of its research and development activities.
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_21322219/western-digital-lays-off-80-workers-at-fremont?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

San Jose-Based Tessera Technologies Names Rick Neely Jr. as New CFO

San Jose, Calif. -- Tessera Technologies, a San Jose-based developer of semiconductor packaging and camera module technologies, has named Rick Neely Jr. as its executive vice president and CFO. He succeeds Michael Anthofer, who has resigned as CFO to pursue other interests. Neely most recently served as the CFO of Livescribe, and previously was the CFO of Monolithic Power Systems and NuCORE Technology.
http://www.tessera.com
http://www.tessera.com/abouttessera/pressroom/pages/newsreleases.aspx?releaseId=700687

Petaluma-Based Raydiance Raises $20 Million in New Funding

Petaluma, Calif. – Raydiance, a Petaluma-based developer of precision manufacturing hardware and software based around laser technology, said on Tuesday it has raised $20 million in a new round of funding, led by Samsung Venture Investment, the investment arm of consumer technology giant Samsung Group. Previous backers Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DFJ-Growth and Greenstreet Partners also participated. The company said it will use the proceeds to accelerate its consumer electronics efforts and ramp up manufacturing to meet increased demand from its medical device, automotive and other manufacturing customers.
http://www.raydiance.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120814005463/en/Raydiance-Raises-20M-Growth-Financing-Led-Samsung

San Francisco's App Annie Lands $6 Million in Second Round of Funding

San Francisco -- App Annie, a developer of app store analytics and market intelligence with offices in San Francisco and Beijing, said on Tuesday it has raised $6 million in its second round of funding. Greycroft Partners led the round, which also included participation from e.ventures, Infinity Venture Partners, Kii Capital, angel investor Jarl Mohn and previous backer IDG Capital Partners. The company said it will use the new funding to accelerate its product roadmap and expansion into new app stores. "Within the next year, our customers can expect to see a whole host of new feature and platform integrations for App Annie products," said CEO Bertrand Schmitt. The company also plans to increase its presence in the U.S., China and Japan, particularly bolstering its employee base in San Francisco and Beijing.
http://www.appannie.com
http://www.appannie.com/blog/app-annie-secures-6-million-in-series-b-financing/

Palo Alto-Based Educreations Raises $2.2 Million in First Round

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Educreations, the Palo Alto-based developer of an interactive whiteboard app, said on Tuesday it has secured $2.2 million in its first round of funding, from Accel Partners and NewSchools Venture Fund. The company, founded by former RockYou product manager Wade Roberts and engineer Chris Streeter, said it will use the proceeds to expand its mobile learning platform. Educreations' app transforms the iPad into a recordable, interactive whiteboard that captures voice and handwriting to produce video lessons. The company then hosts these lessons online, where they can be shared publicly or with a private group. Educreations was incubated in ImagineK12, a Silicon Valley-based accelerator program for education technology startups. Angel investors participating in the round included Matthew Greenfield, Tabreez Verjee, and David and Julia Popowitz.
http://www.educreations.com/
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/educreations-announces-2-2mm-series-160000502.html

San Francisco-Based Salesforce.com Completes Deal for Buddy Media

San Francisco -- Salesforce.com, the San Francisco-based enterprise cloud computing company, it has completed its $689 million acquisition of New York-based Buddy Media, developer of a social media marketing platform. The cash and stock deal was first announced in early June. The move comes more than year after Salesforce.com also acquired Radian6, developer of a social media monitoring platform. The company said it now plans to combine the two platforms, allowing CMOs to manage their company's entire social marketing lifecycle. Founded in 2007, Buddy Media has nearly 1,000 customers, including Ford, HP, L'Oreal and Mattel. Buddy Media's team is now part of the Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
http://www.buddymedia.com  
http://www.salesforce.com   
http://www.salesforce.com/company/news-press/press-releases/2012/08/120813.jsp

S.F.-Based MyHealthTeams Lands $1.75 Million in Seed Funding

San Francisco -- MyHealthTeams, a San Francisco-based developer of social networks specifically for people with chronic health conditions, said on Tuesday it has raised $1.75 million in seed funding, led by Adams Street Partners. Other participants included 500 Startups and several angel investors. The company said it will use the proceeds to scale its business, expand its team and drive awareness of its social networks and mobile apps. MyHealthTeams also announced the launch of the MyAutismTeam mobile app, available for iOS devices. The app builds on the success of the company's social network, MyAutismTeam.com. "When you are diagnosed with a chronic condition, it should be easy to find the best people around to help you," said co-founder and CEO Eric Peacock. “We meet a need not addressed by mass market social networks like Facebook."
http://www.myhealthteams.com
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/myhealthteams-announces-175-million-in-seed-funding-launches-myautismteam-mobile-app-1690359.htm

Milpitas-Based Dialogic Promotes Kevin Cook at CEO

Milpitas, Calif. -- Dialogic, a Milpitas-based developer of technology that help mobile operators offer enhanced mobile communications services, said it has promoted Kevin Cook, its current president and COO, to the additional role of CEO. He succeeds Nick Jensen, who has resigned. Jenson will remain on the company's board as non-executive vice chairman. Cook, who has been with the company since 2008, became president and COO last December, after previously serving as its executive vice president of worldwide field operations. Recent board appointee Patrick Jones, the former CFO of Gemalto International, has been named to succeed Jenson as non-executive chairman.
http://www.dialogic.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120810005057/en/Kevin-Cook-Appointed-President-CEO-Dialogic

Federal Trade Commission Approves Privacy Settlement with Facebook

Menlo Park, Calif. -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Friday approved a settlement with Menlo Park-based Facebook, requiring the social networking giant to obtain the express consent of users before sharing their information beyond established privacy settings. The agreement resolves charges that Facebook deceived users by telling them their information on the service could remain private, then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public. The company and FTC originally reached the settlement in November. Under the terms, Facebook must maint a comprehensive privacy program to protect consumers' information, and submit to independent privacy audits every two years for the next two decades.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/08/facebook.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0923184/111129facebookagree.pdf (Settlement agreement)

Redwood City-Based Actian Offers to Buy Pervasive for $154 Million

Redwood City, Calif. -- Actian, a Redwood City-based developer of data management tools for big data, on Monday publicly offered to buy Texas-based rival Pervasive Software in a deal valued at $154 million.  Under the proposed deal, Actian would pay $8.50 a share in cash. Steve Shine, the CEO of Actian, said his company has broached the idea of a combination on several occasions, though Pervasive so far has "declined" to negotiate a deal. "It remains our strong preference to reach a negotiated agreement with Pervasive, and we are confident that working together, we can reach a mutually agreeable transaction," said Shine.
http://www.actian.com
http://www.pervasive.com/
http://www.actian.com/newsroom/press/actian-to-acquire-pervasive-software

WSJ: Google to Acquire Frommer's Travel Brand

Mountain View, Calif. -- Looking to bolsters its local reviews content, Mountain View-based Google will acquire the Frommer's travel brand from publishing house John Wiley & Sons, The Wall Street Journal reported. Financial terms of the deal, expected to close shortly, were not disclosed. The Journal said that Google hasn't yet decided if it will continue to publish Frommer's guide books, which it speculated could be merged with the company's Zagat brand, which it acquired last November. Frommer's has been publishing its travel guides since 1957.
http://www.google.com
http://www.frommers.com/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444772404577587131075164366.html