Friday, February 1, 2008NTI Group Acquisition ClosesWashington, D.C.-based Blackboard, a provider of software for the education community, said late Thursday that it has closed its acquisition of Sherman Oaks-based NTI Group. NTI Group was a provider of mass messaging and notification services for the school and government market. The deal was worth $182M in cash and stock, and up to $17M in earn out. NTI Group was advised by UBS Investment Bank in the deal, along with Latham and Watkins LLP; Blackboard was advised by Wachovia Securities and Dewe (More info...)
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Conexant Faces DelistingNewport Beach-based semiconductor manufacturer Conexant Systems reported Friday that it has received a letter from the Nasdaq Stock Market, notifying that the firm's stock price fell below the minumum $1.00 per share required by the exchange. According to Conexant, it has 180 calendar days to regain compliance with the rule. Conexant said it intends to take action required to regain compliance, but did not details exacts steps it would take.
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TriZetto Gets Win At Blue Shield Of CaliforniaNewport Beach-based Trizetto Group, a developer of helath care management software, said earlier this week that it has been selected by Blue Shield of California for a major system-wide technology upgrade. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. According to TriZetto, the move is part of an upgrade expected to launch in 2009. TriZetto develops software used for health benefit administration.
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Play N Trade Adds COONewport Beach-based Play N Trade Franchise, which operates a chain of computer video games retail stores, said this week that it has added Tom McMahon as the firm's Chief Operating Officer. McMahon joins the firm from Activision, where he was Vice President of Retail Sales. He has also served at Starbucks and Frito-Lay. According to Play N Trade McMahon will manage all phases of the company’s operations, including franchisee support, training, real estate, customer service, franchise developme (More info...)
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Language Weaver Upgrades Translation SoftwareLos Angeles-based Language Weaver, which develops software for automating the translation of foreign languages, said Thursday that it has released a new version of its software. The firm said the version 5.0 software significantly improves translation of Chinese to English. The firm said the new feature, LW Statistical Syntax, will help to product fluent, high quality translation systems. Language Weaver's software is a spinout of the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Inst (More info...)
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Mahalo Social Adds Goodreads SupportSanta Monica-based human powered search engine Mahalo, the high profile startup headed by Jason Calacanis, has added support for Goodreads, the angel backed Los Angeles startup developing a social networking web site focused on books. According to Calacanis on his blog, the firm's social networking profile feature "Mahalo Social" now allows users of Mahalo to add information about Goodreads to their Mahalo profile. Goodreads raised a round of angel funding in December from James Currier of Ooga (More info...)
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