Medica Venture Partners raising $120m third fund

Medica Venture Partners and Poalim Ventures will shortly complete a $120 million fund. Medica and Poalim Capital Markets - Investment Bank Ltd. today announced that Poalim Ventures would invest $20 million in the new fund, to be renamed Medica Poalim III Fund. Sources inform ''Globes'' that the fund has already made a preliminary closure, and made two investments in medical devices companies Remon Medical Technologies Inc. and GlobeImmune Inc..

With Poalim Ventures’ investment, commitments for the Medica Poalim III Fund total $80 million, which will probably allow the fund to be closed in a few months. Other investors in the fund are George Soros, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA), Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), Baxter International (NYSE:BAX), William Blair and Company (Poalim Capital Markets’ strategic partner), and Israeli financial institutions Gmulot, Leumi Provident Funds, Israel Phoenix Assurance Co. Ltd. (TASE: PHOE1 ;PHOE5), Menorah Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MORA1 ;MORA5), and Gmul Sahar Securities Brokerage Services.

Medica has raised two funds. The $15 million Medica I Fund was raised in 1995, and the $55 million Medica II Fund was raised in 2000. Medica’s portfolio includes Orex Computed Radiography, acquired by Eastman Kodak (NYSE:EK) early this year for $63 million; XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (LSE: XTL; TASE: XTL); and InterCure Ltd., which may raise money in Japan next year.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 10, 2005