Bessemer Sees A More Than 4x Return On Summit Microelectronics Acquisition

It is not everyday that you find an exit for a 15 year old portfolio company and one that bring a more than 4x return on capital to boot.

But that is what Bessemer Venture Partners says it achieved with Summit Microelectronics, which sold to Qualcomm two weeks ago.

If there is a lesson to be learned, it might be this: “Sometimes you just have to be patient,” says Bob Goodman, founding partner of Bessemer’s New York office. “We just stayed with it.”

The Sunnyvale, Calif., company makes power management chips for use in mobile phones, tablets and other devices. The novel aspect of its technology is its efficiency and small footprint, says Goodman.

He described the better than 4x return as an excellent outcome for the company, though he declined to say exactly how much money Bessemer invested over the years. Also undisclosed is the purchase price Qualcomm paid.

According to data from Thomson Reuters, the company raised a total of $54.73 million from a long list of backers, including Bessemer, which first become involved with the company in 1998. Other investors are August Capital Management, Norwest Venture Partners, Spinnaker Ventures, Pequot Capital Management, FirstMark Capital, Eastward Capital Partners, HLM Venture Partners, Hotung International, Nokia Growth Partners and CID Group, according to the data from Thomson Reuters, publisher of this blog.

Bessemer invested out of its 1996 fund.

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