Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Many possible triggers for wider euro debt crisis

May 7, 2010 by Robert Tillman

Here is an update on the Euro crisis from Reuters.

“Europe may be months, conceivably weeks away from an expanded debt crisis that cuts more countries off from access to the markets and forces fresh emergency action by rich governments or the European Central Bank.

The many potential triggers for an expanded crisis include a failed bond auction, any signs that Athens or donor nations were backing away from a 110 billion euro ($141 billion) bailout of Greece, and a freezing up of Europe’s interbank money market.

For now, Portugal, Ireland and Spain, widely seen as the next possible “dominos” after Greece, remain in significantly better shape. The interbank market is far from grinding to a halt as it did after Lehman Brothers collapsed in late 2008.

But the spread of investor jitters in the past 24 hours, affecting markets as distant as yen swaps in Tokyo, suggests market conditions could deteriorate as rapidly as they did during the global financial crisis of 2007-2009.

“In my view there is a 10-20 percent chance that at least one more country will need rescuing as it finds itself shut out of the markets,” said Marco Annunziata, chief economist at Italy’s UniCredit bank.

“If it happens, it is most likely to happen in the coming six months.”

Lena Komileva, head of G7 market economics at money broker Tullett Prebon, said the crisis over Greece’s solvency had morphed into a capital markets crisis, and the markets had begun to feed on their own momentum.

“Another credit event similar to Greece can happen within weeks,” she said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top economic policy makers in the euro zone appeared to recognize this in their warnings about the risk of an expanded crisis on Wednesday.

“It’s absolutely essential to contain the bushfire in Greece so that it will not become a forest fire and a threat to financial stability for the European Union and its economy as a whole,” said European Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn.

TRIGGERS

Greece became unable to finance its debt at affordable rates when its 10-year government bond yield soared near 10 percent in April. The euro zone’s other weak countries have not reached that stage; Portugal’s yield was below 6 percent on Wednesday.

Portugal sold 500 million euros in six-month Treasury bills on Wednesday at a yield of 2.955 percent, which was about four times the rate at the last such sale on March 3 but was well below maximum levels in the secondary market. This was seen as a moderately positive sign by analysts.

Spain is expected to succeed in selling 2-3 billion euros of government bonds on Thursday, although at a much higher yield than in its last auction, analysts said.

Nevertheless, every debt sale by weak euro zone states in coming months is likely to be viewed as a potential flashpoint for an expanded crisis. Portugal plans to offer more T-bills on May 19 and Spain plans another bond sale on May 20.”

Read the full article here.

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Kin One and Two reach out to Generation Upload

May 5, 2010 by Steven R. Gerbsman

Here is an interesting newsbit from SFgate.com

“Microsoft’s cell phone rebound begins today with the release of two new phones aimed at social networking fiends.

Kin One and Kin Two are Microsoft’s play for the generation of messaging users who are forever connected to friends through platforms like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, what some call Generation Upload.

The two phones are now available online at www.verizonwireless.com and will be available for purchase in Verizon Wireless stores May 13. The Kin One will sell for $49.99 with a $100 rebate and 2-year contract while the Kin Two will sell for $99.99 with the same requirements.

I’ve been playing with the Kin One for half a day and it feels like a fresh approach to messaging phones that should complement, along with its bigger brother, Microsoft’s upcoming Windows phone 7 smart phones.

First some basics: The Kin One sports a 2.6-inch screen, a 5 megapixel camera, a portrait slide-out keyboard, a Tegra APX 2600 processor (like in the Zune HD) with GPS, Wi-Fi, an accelerometer and 4GB of storage. The Kin Two has a 3.4-inch screen, a horizontal slide-out keyboard, an 8 megapixel camera, the ability to run 720p video, 8GB of storage along with the same processor, Wi-Fi, GPS and accelerometer of its smaller sibling.

The home screen called Kin Loop is a stream of tiles representing updates from your friends and RSS feeds. Swipe to the right and you can jump to tiles of up to 51 of your favorite friends. To the left of the home screen is your list of apps.

Where things get interesting is the Kin Spot, a circle on the bottom of the screen that remains in almost every screen. When you come across an update, a web page, a picture or video you want to share or upload, you just do a long-press on it and then drag it to the Spot. Then you decide who you want to send it to. From your favorites list or contacts page, you can drag anyone into the Spot and then decide how they’ll receive it. You can e-mail it to them or text message them. Or you can broadcast out your update to your social networks.

Apps like Tweetdeck on the iPhone let you do some of this stuff but using the Spot is fun and it works across your entire phone.

Another innovative thing about the Kin devices is that almost everything you do is backed up to the Kin Studio, which can be accessed from any browser. You can see all your communications you’ve had over the past month, week or day and you can see all your pictures and videos (up to a minute long) you’ve captured. You can also arrange the layout of your Kin device from the Studio.

The Kin devices also have full HTML browser running a version of Internet Explorer with multi-touch for zooming. The media player is built off of Microsoft’s Zune media player, with all of its elegant swooshing menus. The phone has a dedicated search button for searches on your phone, general Bing searches and Bing searches near you. The e-mail client can handle the usual Google, Yahoo, Hotmail as well as Exchange support.”

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, FaceBook, internet, Market research, Social Networks, Technology, Wireless, Wireless 2.0 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Roubini Says Rising Sovereign Debt Leads to Defaults

May 4, 2010 by Robert Tillman

Here is an article from Bloomberg.

“Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who forecast the U.S. recession more than a year before it began, said sovereign debt from the U.S. to Japan and Greece will lead to higher inflation or government defaults.

Almost $1 trillion of worldwide equity value was erased April 27 on concern that debt will spur defaults, derailing the global economy, data compiled by Bloomberg show. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the International Monetary Fund pledged to step up efforts to overcome the Greek fiscal crisis, after bonds and stocks fell across Europe in the past week.

“The bond vigilantes are walking out on Greece, Spain, Portugal, the U.K. and Iceland,” Roubini, 52, said yesterday during a panel discussion on financial markets at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California. “Unfortunately in the U.S., the bond-market vigilantes are not walking out.”

Credit-rating cuts on Greece, Portugal and Spain this week are spurring investors’ concern that the European deficit crisis is spreading and intensifying pressure on policy makers to widen a bailout package. Roubini’s remarks underscore statements by officials such as Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the IMF, that the global economy still faces risks.

Sovereign Debt

“The thing I worry about is the buildup of sovereign debt,” said Roubini, a former adviser to the U.S. Treasury and IMF consultant, who in August 2006 predicted a “painful” U.S. recession that came to fruition in December 2007. If the problem isn’t addressed, he said, nations will either fail to meet obligations or see faster inflation as officials “monetize” their debts, or print money to tackle the shortfalls.

Roubini, who teaches at NYU’s Stern School of Business, told attendees at the Beverly Hilton hotel that “Greece is just the tip of the iceberg, or the canary in the coal mine for a much broader range of fiscal problems.”

European bonds have plunged on concern that Greece’s won’t be able to pay its debt, with Harvard University Professor Martin Feldstein and Templeton Asset Management Ltd.’s Mark Mobius saying a default may be needed. The yield on the Greek two-year bond rose as high as 26 percent after being downgraded to below-investment grade by Standard & Poor’s on April 27, before falling to 17.35 percent today. The euro, which dropped to the lowest in a year yesterday, rose 0.1 percent to $1.3235 at 4:05 p.m. in New York.

Plugging the Leak

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou met today the heads of the largest private and public-sector unions as well as representatives from the biggest employer group as Greek, EU and IMF officials put the final touches on a package that will allow the country to tap emergency loans. Greece’s budget deficit was 13.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2009, more than four times the limit allowed under European Union rules.

“A default will help to plug the leak,” said Mobius, who oversees about $34 billion in emerging-market assets as executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management, in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Singapore today. “A bailout at this stage does not make sense to me.”

Feldstein wrote in an article published on the Project Syndicate website that the euro region and Greek bondholders will eventually have to accept that “the country is insolvent and cannot service its existing debt.””

Read the full article here.

Posted in Board Of Intellectual Capital, Economy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Ken Virnig – Friend, Father, Gentleman passed on this morning

May 3, 2010 by Steven R. Gerbsman

Ken Virnig – What’s in a name.

In Ken’s case, the name Ken Virnig means Ethics, a Man of Integrity, a Gentleman, a Good Businessman, a Man of Faith, a Trusted Friend and most of all a Man dedicated to his son Chip.

Ken and I have know each other since 1978. We worked at ITEL together during some turbulent times and he was a trusted advisor, leader and friend. During the ensuing years, Ken would always, always enquire about how my son Jason is doing and how is my wife Marlene. When Jason was stationed in the Gaza Strip with the Israel Defense Forces, Ken would always inquire 2-3 times a month about his safety and how “we” were doing. He knew the anxiety we were facing and as a “friend” he was there to support us. When I was ill in 2006, Ken was “always” there to follow up and provide support.  He exemplified the meaning of “Friend”.

Ken often talked about his son Chip. Although I have met Chip only a couple of times, Ken’s love, admiration and support for his son came through. Chip, please know how much your father respected, loved and is so proud of you.

In the Jewish religion when a loved one/friend passes away you say Kaddish, a prayer of remembrance and hope. Ken, please know that I will be saying Kaddish for you my friend and will remember you in the “Book of Life” each Jewish New Year.

To Chip, Mary Beth, Rita, Dave and all his devoted friends “thank you” for taking daily care of our friend.

A toast “ To the memory of one who once was, and to the knowledge he will be in our hearts and minds forever”.

Be at peace my friend, you are in God’s hands.

With respect and love

Steve Gerbsman

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Date Certain M&A of CardioMind, Inc.- its Assets and Intellectual Property

April 29, 2010 by Steven R. Gerbsman

SALE OF CardioMind, INC.

Gerbsman Partners has been retained by CardioMind, Inc. to solicit interest for the acquisition of all, or substantially all, the assets of CardioMind Inc.

IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICE:

The information in this memorandum does not constitute in whole or in part an offer or a contract.

The information contained in this memorandum relating to CardioMind‘s Assets has been supplied by CardioMind. It has not been independently investigated or verified by Gerbsman Partners or its agents.

Potential purchasers should not rely on any information contained in this memorandum or provided by CardioMind, or Gerbsman Partners (or their respective staff, agents, and attorneys) in connection herewith, whether transmitted orally or in writing as a statement, opinion, or representation of fact. Interested parties should satisfy themselves through independent investigations as they or their legal and financial advisors see fit.

CardioMind, Gerbsman Partners, and their respective staff, agents, and attorneys, (i) disclaim any and all implied warranties concerning the truth, accuracy, and completeness of any information provided in connection herewith and (ii) do not accept liability for the information, including that contained in this memorandum, whether that liability arises by reasons of CardioMind‘ or Gerbsman Partners” negligence or otherwise.

It is expected that any sale of the CardioMind Assets will be made on an “as-is,” “where-is,” and “with all faults” basis, without any warranties, representations, or guarantees, either express or implied, of any kind, nature, or type whatsoever from, or on behalf of CardioMind or Gerbsman Partners. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, CardioMind and Gerbsman Partners and their respective staff, agents, and attorneys, hereby expressly disclaim any and all implied warranties concerning the condition of the CardioMind Assets and any portions thereof, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of habitability, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose.

This memorandum contains confidential information and is not to be supplied to any person without Gerbsman Partners’ prior consent. This memorandum and the information contained herein are subject to the non-disclosure agreement attached hereto as Exhibit A.

CardioMind, Inc.

Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, CardioMind, Inc. is a development stage company focused on a unique stent delivery platform that has applications in treating coronary, neuro and peripheral artery disease.

CardioMind believes its assets are attractive for a number of reasons:

1. CardioMind’s Sparrow bare metal stent systems are CE Marked and represent:
– the first stent “in a guidewire” system ever approved for sale.
– the lowest profile (.014 Inch maximum diameter) stent system ever approved for sale.
– the stent with the thinnest struts ever approved for sale.
– the first approved stent system specifically designed to treat vessels below 2.75 mm.

2. CardioMind has data on its Sparrow drug eluting stent out to 8 months that shows binary restenosis rates of 6.7% in vessels whose mean diameter is 2.27 mm with a mean in-lesion late loss of .23 mm. This data was collected from world respected cardiology centers in Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America in a multicenter controlled randomized trial and analyzed by key ivus and angiographic core laboratories. Data sets and data bases available during due diligence process.

3. CardioMind has extensive data from bench, preclinical, and clinical studies that was used to get the CE Mark on the bare metal stent and is in process of using existing data to get the CE mark for its drug eluting stent.

4. CardioMind has existing bare metal inventory that can be used for clinical evaluation and sale preference testing in Europe.

Intellectual Property Summary

At present, CardioMind has 2 issued US patents, 14 pending patent applications of which 2 have been allowed, and 14 pending international patent applications of which 1 has been allowed. These patents and patent applications are in the area of implant and/or stent delivery technology and stent construction technology and describe among other things:

* A low-profile implant/stent delivery device having an implant/stent releasably secured to a delivery guide member.

* Stent delivery systems comprising an elongate stent carrying member that serves as a guidewire for a balloon catheter that can be used, for example, for vessel predilation or postdilation of an emplaced stent. And methods of passing a balloon catheter over an elongate stent carrying member, which serves as a guidewire.

* Prosthesis twist-down delivery systems including a prosthesis mounted on an elongate member in a twisted reduced diameter configuration and stent configurations suitable for twisting.

* Implant/stent holding and release approaches to releasably hold an implant/stent to a delivery guide including mechanical and electrolytic mechanisms.

* Power delivery technology for releasing electrolytically erodable stent holding mechanisms.

CardioMind has allowed claims involving methods for treating a vessel including passing a balloon catheter over an elongate stent carrying member, which serves as a guidewire for the balloon catheter. CardioMind also has allowed claims involving a system comprising prosthesis structure being in a twisted reduced diameter configuration and releasably mounted on an elongate member. These allowed claims also include other language as will be apparent from reviewing the claims. Other aspects of the technology also are being pursued.

Sparrow is a differentiated stent and delivery technology

* The stent “in a guidewire” technology is unique to CARDIOMIND and may offer significant clinical benefits.

* The Sparrow’s low profile and guidewire integration allows for significantly improved delivery and access to distal lesions, lesions in tortuous anatomy, small vessels, lesions distal to previously placed stents, and access through stent struts to treat bifurcations.

* The Sparrow allows direct access to the lesion with the Sparrow being used as the lead guidewire. The Sparrow guidewire can then be used to rail a rapid exchange catheter over its shaft and stent. Alternatively, the Sparrow with its stent attached can fit through any standard .014 inch catheter lumen (infusion or balloon).

Large and well established stent market

* Existing $5 billion worldwide coronary stent market.

* Existing reimbursement.

* Physician base known for rapid adoption of new technologies that provide improved safety/efficacy and/or greater efficiency.

* Neurovascular Stent: The Sparrow can be used in neurovascular anatomy to treat ischemic stroke, atherosclerotic disease, or bridge aneurysms prior to coiling. Existing stents with much stiffer, bulkier delivery systems are priced at $6000 for bare metal stents. There are over 700,000 ischemic strokes in the US annually. Access is a key issue in treatment of distal, tortuous neurovascular disease.

* Peripheral Stent: The Sparrow can access distal parts of the peripheral vascular system to treat unmet clinical needs in erectile dysfunction and distal disease in the leg. The Sparrow system is extremely flexible and trackable and may be able deliver a self-expanding stent to distal, tortuous anatomy better than current systems. These markets represent markets over $500MM.

CardioMind Company Profile

CardioMind was founded in 2003 and raised approximately $53 million through private placements of its convertible preferred stock involving leading venture capital firms including Latterell Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, InterWest Partners, De Novo Ventures, SV Life Sciences, and Onset Ventures.

CardioMind is a developer of the innovative “stent in a guidewire” Sparrow system using both drug eluting and bare metal stent systems for the treatment of coronary artery disease, neurovascular disease and peripheral vasculature disease. The CardioMind® Sparrow Stent is the only stent system designed specifically to treat small vessel disease and offers delivery on a guidewire that has a profile 70% smaller than any commercial competitor.

CardioMind’s stent systems are the only stent systems designed to enable physicians to access lesions with combination wire/stent that acts as a lead wire. CardioMind’s stent systems are designed to treat small vessels and distal, hard to reach anatomy in coronary, neuro and peripheral vasculature.

Impact of Technology on the Market

CardioMind believes that its “stent in a guidewire” technology offers advantages over currently marketed stents.

* The “stent in a guidewire” technology is unique to CARDIOMIND and may offer significant clinical benefits

* The Sparrow’s low profile and guidewire integration allows for significantly improved delivery and access to distal lesions, lesions in tortuous anatomy, small vessels, lesions distal to previously placed stents, and access through stent struts to treat bifurcations.

* The Sparrow allows direct access to the lesion with the Sparrow used as the lead guidewire. The Sparrow guidewire can then be used to rail a rapid exchange catheter over its shaft and the stent. Alternatively the Sparrow and its stent can fit through any standard .014 inch catheter lumen (infusion or balloon).

CardioMind Assets

CardioMind has developed a portfolio of assets critical to the development and manufacture of stent “in a guidewire” systems. These assets fall into a variety of categories, including:

* Patents, Patent Applications and Trademarks

* CE Mark for Sparrow bare metal stent systems

* Custom built equipment for manufacturing stent systems

* Technology and intellectual property related to stent “in a guide wire” systems

* Key know-how and expertise in manufacturing smallest profile stent system approved for sale

* Technology and intellectual property related to drug coating the Sparrow system utilizing a biodegradable polymer

* Patient Data from 2 clinical trials involving 170 patients

The assets of CardioMind will be sold in whole or in part (collectively, the “CardioMind Assets”). The sale of these assets is being conducted with the cooperation of CardioMind. CardioMind and its employees will be available to assist purchasers with due diligence and a prompt, efficient transition to new ownership. Notwithstanding the foregoing, CardioMind should not be contacted directly without the prior consent of Gerbsman Partners.

The Bidding Process for Interested Buyers

Interested and qualified parties will be expected to sign a nondisclosure agreement (attached hereto as Exhibit A) to have access to key members of the management and intellectual capital teams and the due diligence “war room” documentation (the “Due Diligence Access”). Each interested party, as a consequence of the Due Diligence Access granted to it, shall be deemed to acknowledge and represent (i) that it is bound by the bidding procedures described herein; (ii) that it has an opportunity to inspect and examine the CARDIOMIND Assets and to review all pertinent documents and information with respect thereto; (iii) that it is not relying upon any written or oral statements, representations, or warranties of CARDIOMIND, Inc., Gerbsman Partners, or their respective staff, agents, or attorneys; and (iv) all such documents and reports have been provided solely for the convenience of the interested party, and neither CARDIOMIND nor Gerbsman Partners (or their respective, staff, agents, or attorneys) makes any representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the same.

Following an initial round of due diligence, interested parties will be invited to participate with a sealed bid, for the acquisition of the CardioMind Assets. Sealed bids must be submitted so that the bid is actually received by Gerbsman Partners no later than Thursday, June 3 at 3:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (the “Bid Deadline”) at CardioMind’ office, located at 257 Humbolt Court Sunnyvale, CA 94089. Please also email Steve@GerbsmanPartners.com with any bid.

Bids should identify those assets being tendered for in a specific and identifiable way. The attached CardioMind fixed asset list may not be complete and Bidders interested in the CardioMind Assets must submit a separate bid for such assets. Be specific as to the assets desired. CardioMind cash and accounts receivable are not being offered for bid as par of the CardioMind Assets.

Any person or other entity making a bid must be prepared to provide independent confirmation that they possess the financial resources to complete the purchase where applicable. All bids must be accompanied by a refundable deposit check in the amount of $200,000 (payable to CardioMind, Inc.). The winning bidder will be notified within 3 business days after the Bid Deadline. Unsuccessful bidders will have their deposit returned to them. CARDIOMIND reserves the right to, in its sole discretion, accept or reject any bid, or withdraw any or all assets from sale.

CARDIOMIND will require the successful bidder to close within 7 business days. Any or all of the assets of CardioMind will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis, with no representation or warranties whatsoever.

All sales, transfer, and recording taxes, stamp taxes, or similar taxes, if any, relating to the sale of the CardioMind Assets shall be the sole responsibility of the successful bidder and shall be paid to CardioMind at the closing of each transaction.

For additional information, please see below:

About Gerbsman Partners

Gerbsman Partners focuses on maximizing enterprise value for stakeholders and shareholders in under-performing, under-capitalized and under-valued companies and their Intellectual Property. Since 2001, Gerbsman Partners has been involved in maximizing value for 60 Technology, Life Science and Medical Device companies and their Intellectual Property,, through its proprietary “Date Certain M&A Process” and has restructured/terminated over $790 million of real estate executory contracts and equipment lease/sub-debt obligations. Since inception, Gerbsman Partners has been involved in over $2.3 billion of financings, restructurings and M&A transactions.

Gerbsman Partners has offices and strategic alliances in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Alexandria, VA, San Francisco, Europe and Israel.

Gerbsman Partners
Phone: +1.415.456.0628, Fax: +1.415.459.2278
Email: Steve@GerbsmanPartners.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »