Crossing said its shareholders included Intel Capital, the corporate venturing unit of US-listed chipmaker Intel, and venture capital firm Tallwood Venture Capital.

BoSci said it would pay $90m initially and a further $175m in performance fees if targets were met over the next five years.

First Communication is a portfolio company of private equity firm Gores Group and New York-listed utility FirstEnergy.

Yahoo buys Stamped, a US-based social recommendations company backed by a consortium including Google Ventures.

In the second quarter, Pfizer had paid $20m for an option to buy NextWave. Pfizer will pay a further $245m if the acquisition is approved and up to $425m in performance fees after Quillivant XR goes on sale in January.

Permira snaps up Ancestry, which raised venture funding from AOL and Compaq, in a take-private deal.

In July last year, US-based search engine Google and US-based technology company Qualcomm's corporate venturing units helped ThinkNear raise $1.6m in seed financing.

US-based Viewdle, which is corporate venturing-backed, is sold after holding talks with Motorola last year shortly before Google acquired it. Google sealed the deal through its Motorola Mobility unit.