A private-equity fund has made a $113 million investment in Boulder- based FreeWave Technologies, a deal that ranks among the largest private financings in the state since 2002.
FreeWave received the financing from TA Associates, a private-equity and buyout firm based in Boston. Vivian Wu, a principal at TA, will join FreeWave’s board of directors.
FreeWave is a provider of board- level and enclosed-format data radios. Its customers include companies in the oil-and-gas, military, security and agriculture industries.
The investment in FreeWave tops several other notable deals in recent years, including a $93 million investment in Adam Aircraft, based at Centennial Airport, and a $108 million deal in 2005 for Webroot Software, based in Boulder.
The size of the FreeWave deal will probably skew higher the annual dollar tally of venture-capital deals in the state, said Wayne Greenberg, a Boulder-based angel investor.
However, Greenberg said the deal could be discounted from the 2007 tally, in part because TA is a private- equity firm. While such firms can make venture-capital investments, Greenberg said it is possible that TA purchased a 50 percent or greater stake in FreeWave.
Acquisitions possible
Another possibility is that FreeWave intends to use the capital to make acquisitions, Greenberg said.
FreeWave said in a statement it will use at least part of the financing for research and development.
“This investment provides opportunities for our company to offer additional programs beyond those employed to date,” Jonathan Sawyer, FreeWave’s chairman and chief technical officer, said in a statement.
“We look forward to working with TA to leverage their financial support and investment experience to continue developing superior radio solutions for our customers,” Sawyer said.
FreeWave was founded in 1993 by Sawyer and Steve Wulchin, president and chief executive.
The law firm of Faegre & Benson advised FreeWave on the deal.
