Shareholder Representative Services Simplifies Post-Closing Period for Venture Capitalists Following HP Acquisition of LeftHand Networks

12.11.2008

San Francisco, CA – December 11, 2008 – Shareholder Representative Services (SRS), which specializes in representing stockholders of venture-backed companies after their sale through a merger or acquisition, has been appointed to represent the selling shareholders in the HP acquisition of LeftHand Networks.

The $360 million acquisition of LeftHand by HP closed in November. LeftHand’s VC investors included Boulder Ventures, Garage Technology Ventures, Ironside Ventures, JPMorgan Chase, New World Ventures, Portage Venture Partners, Sequel Venture Partners, Sprout Group, Valhalla Partners, Vista Ventures and Wasatch Ventures.

Since 2007, SRS has represented more than 50 venture capital firms and served as the official shareholder representative in more than 20 venture-backed M&A deals valued at over $4 billion. The SRS team of lawyers, bankers and accountants, backed by the company’s proprietary technology, simplifies the post-closing period for selling stockholders and maximizes the return of sale proceeds.

In its capacity as shareholder representative, SRS represents VCs and other selling shareholders as a group in connection with post-closing matters related to this transaction, including handling potential claims by the buyer for damages related to breaches of representations or warranties, communicating with escrow agents and other parties to the transaction, and resolving other matters that may arise following closing. In typical M&A transactions, the post-closing period lasts for years after closing.

“Prior to the creation of SRS, one of the VCs typically had to volunteer to represent the selling shareholders when a company was sold, despite the fact that the role involves a significant time commitment as well as potential legal and other risks,” said Paul Koenig, managing director of SRS and a former corporate M&A lawyer. He added, “SRS allows VCs to do what they do best, which is finding new investment opportunities and building their portfolio companies, while we handle all the post-closing details involved in selling a portfolio company.”

“The investor group selected SRS as shareholder representative because they have a strong reputation in the marketplace for effectively handling all the post-closing details on behalf of selling shareholders,” said Tim Connor of Sequel Venture Partners. “Hiring SRS offloads the burden of being shareholder rep from the investors, yet we are still kept informed when disputes or other issues arise.”

About Shareholder Representative Services (SRS)

Shareholder Representative Services specializes in representing the stockholders in venture-backed companies after the sale of these companies. As the designated representative of the venture capitalists and other selling shareholders, SRS manages the entire post-closing process, including the management of escrows, earn-out negotiations, the handling of claims, disputes and litigation, communications with the acquirer and distribution of escrow funds. Since 2007, SRS has represented more than 50 venture capital firms and served as the official shareholder representative in more than 20 venture-backed M&A deals valued at over $4 billion. More information: www.shareholderrep.com.

	“The investor group selected SRS as shareholder representative because they have a strong reputation in the marketplace for effectively handling all the post-closing details on behalf of selling shareholders. Hiring SRS offloads the burden of being shareholder rep from the investors, yet we are still kept informed when disputes or other issues arise.
Tim Connor Sequel Venture Partners