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| The U.S. House moved a step
closer to sparing small companies from complying with investor-protection rules imposed in the wake
of accounting frauds at Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. Lawmakers defeated 271-153 an effort to remove
an exemption from legislation overhauling Wall Street regulation. |
| (Source: Bloomberg, 2009-12-11) |
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| President Obama reiterated his
call for the nation's banks to increase lending, saying that he was getting too many letters from
small businesses unable to borrow money. |
| (Source: The Washington Post (free reg. req'd),
2009-12-14) |
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| President Obama presented a
series of initiatives aimed at turning around the nation's beleaguered job market, paying particular
attention to increasing the hiring of small businesses by opening lines of credit and offering tax
breaks to try to lower the double-digit unemployment rate. |
| (Source: The New York Times (free reg. req'd),
2009-12-08) |
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| It's not too hard to predict
an improvement in conditions for 2010, what with 2009 having been so bad, but several bankers and
venture capitalists at Always On's annual Silicon Valley venture confab were for the most part
downright rosy about what the upcoming year holds for their industries. Hopes were high for exit
opportunities in the new year, whether IPOs or M&A. |
| (Source: Deal Journal, 2009-12-09) |
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| The venture capital industry
is engaged in an urgent effort to ward off Congress from significantly increasing the taxes on
profits made by venture firms. The House voted in favor of the Tax Extenders Act of 2009 that would
raise tax rates on carried interest earned by investment managers -- including venture firms -- to
ordinary income rates, or around 35 percent, from a lower capital gains rate of 15 percent. |
| (Source: The Wall Street Journal,
2009-12-09) |
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| Henry Kravis and George
Roberts built their private equity giant on swashbuckling deals. Now they want a more diversified
firm that can finance its own -- the way Warren Buffett does. |
| (Source: BusinessWeek, 2009-12-10) |
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| U.S. innovation slowed this
year for the first time in 13 years as the recession cut into budgets, and costs to protect
inventions rose. The number of patent filings in the United States fell 2.3 percent in 2009 to
485,500 from 496,886 last year, according to a preliminary estimate by the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office. |
| (Source: CNNMoney.com, 2009-12-11) |
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| A single Europe-wide patent
scheme is a step nearer, after EU member states agreed the main elements, including a unified
European patent court. Intellectual property experts praised the agreement, announced by the Swedish
presidency of the EU, but warned that the biggest obstacle to the scheme -- who will pay for patent
translation -- remains unresolved. |
| (Source: ZDNet, 2009-12-07) |
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| Private equity investors have
lost faith in buyout houses and will refuse to back firms that fail to be transparent on their
performance or do not accede to their demands on fees, a survey found. The once-booming industry,
hit by falling portfolio company sales and a reliance on leverage to boost returns, has seen its
performance slide, disappointing investors and prompting them to reign back investment in new
funds. |
| (Source: Reuters, 2009-12-03) |
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ExactTarget Lands Another
$75M in Funding
E-mail marketing provider ExactTarget has in a short span landed what
may be a record amount of venture funding for a private company in Indianapolis-$75 million since
October. And that's on top of the $69.9 million it received in May. That’s a total of $145
million in a mere six months, and from venture-capital firms on the coasts who’d otherwise
struggle to find Indianapolis on a map. Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), headquartered in
Palo Alto, Calif., is the source of the latest $70 million investment. TCV also has invested in such
companies as Expedia.com, Orbitz.com parent Travelport Ltd. and RiskMetrics Group, a New York
company that owns Institutional Shareholder Services. ExactTarget is an Ice Miller client.
Read the entire IBJ article about ExactTarget.
Source: Indianapolis Business
Journal
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Just days before the United Nations
Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
initiated the Green Technology Pilot Program on December 8, 2009 to expedite the examination of
"green technology" patent applications. By offering the program, the USPTO hopes to accelerate the
development and deployment of green technologies, help create green jobs, and promote U.S.
competitiveness in the clean technology sector. In the press release announcing the Pilot Program,
the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, David Kappos
explained, "Every day an important green tech innovation is hindered from coming to market is
another day we harm our planet and another day lost in creating green businesses and green
jobs."
Read more about the Green
Technology Pilot Program.
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DealMakers Expect Strategic
Investing to Lead Pickup in M&A Activity in 2010
CHICAGO--Merger professionals say the current M&A environment remains moribund, yet express guarded
optimism about a pickup in the first half of 2010, with strategic investors and distressed sales
leading the way.
The latest twice-yearly survey by the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) and Thomson Reuters
reveals that negative sentiment about the dealmaking environment has not changed during the last
year, with 87% of dealmakers saying the current M&A environment is fair or poor, compared to 88% at
mid-year 2009, and 86% in December 2008.
Over the next six months, however, the percentage of dealmakers who expect an increase in merger
activity jumped to 82% from 56% six months ago.
Read the entire article.
Source: Business Wire
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December
December 17 - ACG Holiday Reception
January
January 20 - Economic Club of Indiana with Kevin Chavous, School of Choice Advocate
January 21 - Indiana Chamber of Commerce - Health Care Reform Seminar Part 2
January 21 - Financial Executives International's with Rob Santa for French Lick Resort
Redevelopment
January 22 - Mayor's Celebration of Diversity Awards
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Ice Miller has been active in the
private equity industry for over 25 years, representing both management teams building great
companies and the private equity firms and individuals that invest in them. We have extensive
experience with all types of funds (formations and operations); mezzanine and senior secured
financings; leveraged buyouts, roll-ups, build-ups, and consolidations; divestitures and exits; and
complex litigation on behalf of investors and privately financed companies.
Read the complete profile of the Private Equity and Venture
Services Practice Group.
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