Elevation Partners
Breaking down the $135 million Sonos deal
June 19, 2012: 11:07 AM ET
Going beyond the noise.
FORTUNE -- Sonos, a maker of wireless home audio systems, has raised $135 million in a growth equity round led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). Elevation Partners and Redpoint Ventures also participated, while existing company shareholders include Index Ventures and BV Capital.
Three notes:
1. According to All Things D, only about $45 million of the round is primary capital. The remainder is founder/early shareholder liquidity. Unclear if BV is retaining a stake, given partner Andreas Von Blottnitz is leaving the Sonos board (KKR's David Kerko and Elevation's Fred Anderson are joining).
2. Sources tell me that Elevation Partners isn't investing out of a fund, because the investment period is long expired on its 2006 debut vehicle (and its fabled second fund has yet to materialize). Instead, the Elevation investment is actually coming from Elevation's general partners.
3. I can't recall any other time that KKR has participated in a pre-IPO funding round for a venture-backed company. I know it looked at late rounds for companies like Groupon, but passed because such transactions don't really fit the firm's private equity investment model (namely the lack of control). Maybe it got more comfortable with Sonos because it's high-end hardware, but I'm interested in learning if a deeper strategy shift is at play.
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No, Facebook did not make Bono world's richest musician
Reports of Bono's payday have been greatly exaggerated.
FORTUNE -- There have been a lot of silly things written about Facebook (FB) in the past 24 hours, but this item over at HuffingtonPost takes the cake:
Of course, HuffPo was not alone. Similar sophistry was posted at MSN, music blog NME and, most egregiously, on NASDAQ's own website.
Here's the reality: Bono is a partner with Elevation Partners, a private equity firm that invested MORE
Dan Primack - May 18, 2012 5:39 PM ET -
Reviewing Elevation's Yelp investment
How Elevation Partners fared with Yelp.
Online review site Yelp (YELP) went public earlier today, with shares rocketing more than 64% as of 2:20pm. The last time Yelp raised money was in January 2010, through a private investment from Elevation Partners. So, now that we have a third-party valuation, let's see how Elevation is making out.
Before beginning, let me stress that Elevation did not sell any shares in the IPO and MORE
Dan Primack - Mar 2, 2012 2:30 PM ET -
The Forbes family's big deal causes big trouble
After default, emergency restructuring was needed to satisfy lenders.
FORTUNE -- The Forbes family has poked itself in the eye with its "capitalist tool."
Like many publishers, Forbes Media has struggled during the financial crisis. But according to nonpublic documents made available to Fortune, the company has been under more financial strain than previously believed. Forbes Media violated covenants on a revolving credit line that it took out in 2006, according to MORE
Katie Benner - Jul 28, 2011 5:00 AM ET -
Roger McNamee inscribes Silver Lake in the 'Failure Chronicles'
Success, it seems, is all in the eye of the beholder.
For most of us, Silver Lake Partners would fit the bill. Since being founded in 1999, the tech-focused private equity firm has amassed $14 billion in assets under management, opened offices around the globe, produced strong returns for investors and diversified its investment strategy. For Silver Lake co-founder Roger McNamee, however, Silver Lake is about opportunity lost.
McNamee was one of MORE
Dan Primack - Mar 18, 2011 2:22 PM ET
