Portfolio Profiles: Enterprise Partners –

LA JOLLA/NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Enterprise Partners backs health-care and technology companies, focusing mostly on businesses in Southern California.

Founded in 1985, the firm places some 80% to 85% of its capital in venture deals, preferring to be a company’s first institutional backer. Enterprise, however, does consider first- and second-stage opportunities.

The firm invests the remaining 15% to 20% of its capital in leveraged buyouts, purchasing a division of a larger company or a private company with a single owner, and works on recapitalizations. Enterprise then helps grow the company with the hope of achieving venture-level returns.

Venture deals typically range from $4 million to $6 million each, and LBO deals can reach as much as $10 million, said General Partner Drew Senyei, who works with general partners Bill Stensrud, Ron Taylor, Jim Berglund and Chuck Martin. The firm is in the market for a sixth G.P. to concentrate on information technology and/or e-commerce.

Enterprise has backed a wide variety of companies from biotechnology and health-care services to CLECs and e-commerce. The firm has completed investing about half of Enterprise Partners IV, a $220 million vehicle that closed in 1997.

The firm raised its first fund, the $29.5 million Enterprise Partners I L.P., in 1985 and a follow-on effort, Enterprise Partners II L.P., notched $60 million in 1989. Enterprise Partners III L.P. closed on $110 million in 1993. The second, third and fourth fund totals include small side funds.

About 45% of Enterprise’s invested capital went into the San Diego area, 15% into the Los Angeles Area and 15% into Orange County. The remaining 25% was devoted to Northern California and other states.

Limited partners include the endowments of Dartmouth and Pomona colleges and Harvard, Princeton and Yale universities. The Ford Foundation and The Common Fund also are backers. Corporate and pension investors include AT&T, General Motors, Eastman Kodak, NYNEX and U.S. West. INVESCO (formerly Chancellor LGT Asset Management), Horsely Bridge Ventures, Pantheon Ventures, FLAG Venture Management, HarbourVest Partners, New York Life Insurance Co., Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. and the World Bank also have invested in Enterprise. The firm also has attracted capital from 65 presidents and chief executives of California-based companies.

Portfolio companies include:

Cinetech (Burbank, Calif.), the company formerly known as All Post, provides high-technology services for film restoration and preservation.

Westar Capital and BankAmerica Ventures are co-investors.

Genetic BioSystems (San Diego) develops instruments for microanalysis of DNA and other proteins.

Indosuez Partners co-invested.

Scripps Clinic MSO (La Jolla, Calif.) is a group of 320 specialists and general-practice physicians.

@Backup (San Diego) provides Internet-related services, including automated, encrypted off-site individual personal computers via the Internet.

Alta Partners, Cendant and Winward Ventures are co-investors.

Corixa (Seattle) develops vaccines for breast, pancreatic and colorectal cancers and infectious diseases.

Co-investors are Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Forward Ventures, Interwest Partners and Olympic Venture Partners.

Doskocil Manufacturing Co. (Arlington, Texas) manufacturers and supplies non-food pet products.

Westar Capital co-invested.

Epic Solutions (San Diego) develops client/server software systems for public safety markets.

Western States Investment Group and Forrest Binkley & Brown co-invested.

MineShare (Santa Monica, Calif.) develops software for data warehousing designed for the financial services industry.

Co-investors are Brentwood Venture Capital and Forrest Binkley & Brown.

Nanogen (San Diego) is a public company that develops technology to integrate advanced microelectronics and molecular biology on proprietary semiconductor microchips for biomedical research, medical diagnostics, genomics research, genetic testing and drug discovery.

Co-investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sprout Group, Interwest Partners, Integral Capital Partners and Dominion Ventures.

Rhythms NetConnections (Englewood, Colo.) provides digital subscriber loop (DSL) access for high-speed Internet access.

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sprout Group, Brentwood Venture Capital and Merrill Lynch are co-investors.

Enterprise has offices at 7979 Ivanhoe Ave., Suite 550, La Jolla, Calif. 92037, tel. (619) 454-8833, fax. (619) 454-2489 and 5000 Birch St., Suite 6200, Newport Beach, Calif. 92660, tel.(949) 833-3650, fax. (949) 833-3652. The firm’s Web site address is www.ent.com.