The Blackstone Group has hired J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley to advise on a possible sale of budget hotel chain La Quinta, according to multiple press reports. The Wall St. Journal reports that Blackstone currently values La Quinta at around $4.5 billion (including debt), compared to a $2.3 billion purchase price in 2005. www.blackstone.com
Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC) has acquired Infochimps, an Austin, Texas-based marketplace for lists and other data sets. No financial terms were disclosed. Infochimps had raised VC funding from ff Venture Capital, Karmel Capital, Mercury Fund and Stage One Capital.www.infochimps.com
First Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) has acquired a 1.5 GW pipeline of U.S. and Mexico development assets from Element Power, a portfolio company of Hudson Clean Energy Partners. No financial terms were disclosed. www.elpower.com
Lloyds Development Capital has sold Avelo, a UK-based provider of wealth management and financial planning sales software for financial institutions, to IRESS Ltd. (ASX: IRE). No financial terms were disclosed, but Dow Jones reports that LDC booked a 2x cash-on-cash return. www.avelo.com
Nice Systems (Tel Aviv: NICE) has agreed to acquire Causata, a San Francisco-based provider of customer experience management software. No financial terms were disclosed. Causata had raised over $15 million in VC funding from Accel Partners. www.nice.com
Beijing Automotive Group Co Ltd., a state-owned vehicle manufacturer, has agreed to acquire smaller Chinese automaker Zhenjiang Automobile for an undisclosed amount. www.baihc.com
On Telecom, a Brazilian telecom startup that offers residential and commercial connections over 4G, said that it has secured at least $150 million in equity financing from a fund affiliated with George Soros. The deal would give the Soros fund a majority equity stake in On Telecom.
Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is considering a bid for Hong Kong supermarket chain ParknShop, according to Reuters. Hutchison Whampoa, a listed Hong Kong conglomerate owned by Li Ka-shing, has set an August 16 deadline for first-round bids. www.hutchison-whampoa.com
Yue Xiu Group, a trading arm of China’s Guangzhou city government, is considering a bid for Hong Kong-based lender Chong Hing Bank Ltd., according to Bloomberg. Family-owned Chong Hing Bank
ZOZI, a San Francisco-based provider of discovery and booking services for unusual local activities and travel experiences, has acquired TripFlavor, a SaaS real-time reservation system for tours and activities. No financial terms were disclosed. Zozi has raised more than $10 million in funding from such firms as Forerunner Ventures, Par Capital Partners, LaunchCapital, the Pritzker/Vlock Family Office and 500Startups. www.zozi.com
YuMe Inc., a Redwood City, Calif.-based operating system for Internet-enabled televisions, raised around $46 million in its IPO. The company price 5.1 million shares at $9 per share, compared to plans to offer 5 million shares at between $12 and $14 per share. It will trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol YUME, with Citigroup and Deutsche Bank serving as lead underwriters. The company reports $6.2 million in net income on nearly $117 million in revenue for 2012, and has raised over $70 million in VC funding from firms like Khosla Ventures (19.6% pre-IPO stake), Accel Partners (18.7%), DAG Ventures (12%), Menlo Ventures (9.3%), BV Capital (7.2%), Samsung and Translink Capital. www.yume.com
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/08/07/why-did-aol-buy-adap-tv-now/
