TNInvestco Sales Net Another $60M
The four investment firms chosen to manage the expansion of the state's TNInvestco program has generated more than $60 million from the sale of their $80 million worth of tax credits to insurers.
Solidus-TNInvestco (which is run by Solidus, a major shareholder inNashvillePost.com parent SouthComm Inc.), Tennessee Angel Fund, Memphis Biomed Ventures Tennessee I and NEST-TN out of Tullahoma were named finalists in the initial TNInvestco selection process last fall. State lawmakers voted this spring to expand the program, which aims to boost funding of start-ups around the state, to include all four firms.
One attorney who advised three of the managers involved in the recent sales says the process went more smoothly this time.
“The first time around, we had to explain to the insurers how it was similar to and different from the capcos,” said Miller & Martin member Roddy Bailey, referencing the widely used Certified Capital Companies model. “This time, it was a lot easier to do.”
The increased familiarity also appears to have contributed to higher prices for the tax credits. The four TNInvestcos participating in the second round of credits generated more than 75 cents from each dollar of credits sold. The first round netted about 71 cents on the dollar.
Bailey said several factors resulted in a bigger bang for the tax credit buck. One of them is time: We’re now six months closer to 2012, when the credits can first be used by the insurers. Another is that Four Bridges Capital Advisors, working on behalf of Solidus, MB Venture Partners and Tennessee Angel Fund, contacted over 50 potential insurance company buyers, which Bailey said created a better bidding process.
Read the rest of the article in the Nashville Post.
