Deals, Venture, and Real Estate

Netherlands-based VNU, the owner of market research firm ACNielsen and also the publisher of a number of niche trade publications, has agreed to buy IMS Health of Fairfield, Conn., in a deal valued at approximately $7 billion, the company said today.

IMS provides market research to many of the world's pharmaceutical companies.

La Jolla, Calif.-based Stratagene today announced that it has received US Patent No. 6,893,819, "Methods for Detection of a Nucleic Acid by Sequential Amplification." The patent is the fifth granted to the company for its FullVelocity technology.

The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel today reports that Palm Beach County is seeking to retain real estate brokerage firm CB Richard Ellis to help it sell 163 acres of land in a 1,920-acre orange grove, Mecca Farms, to biotechnology businesses. Mecca Farms is where Scripps will locate its Florida research facility. The county's $500 million plan to convert the space for Scripps and biotech is under legal attack from environmental advocates.

The San Jose Business Journal also reported a land deal with Slough Estates of the UK purchasing 700,000 square feet of propety in Mountain View and Redwood City with an eye to renovating the space for use by biotechnology companies.

MSNBC reports that Santa Fe, NM-based Flywheel Ventures has closed a $31 million early-stage venture capital fund targeting technology companies in Arizona. The firm is expected to make investments in information technology and physical sciences companies, according to the article.

Millipore last week said that it would pay $90 million to acquire NovAseptic of Sweden, a company that specializes in the processing equipment used in the production of biologic drugs.