An Atlanta company that makes software used to provide security to data networks obtained a venture-capital investment this month. 

Reflex Systems Inc. said that RFA Management Co. led a group of firms that invested a total of $8.5 million in the company. Morris, Manning & Martin partner Terresa R. Tarpley was counsel to Reflex Systems and Arnall Golden Gregory partner James E. Dorsey advised RFA Management, according to Reflex Systems. Dorsey could not be reached for comment.

Privately held Reflex Systems, based in Atlanta, was founded in 2000 and was formerly known as Reflex Security. RFA Management is also based in Atlanta.

Burr & Forman advised FleetCor Technologies Inc. on an acquisition and a new round of financing. Partner Deborah Franz led the work for Burr along with Martin Tilson, who has since left the firm. They worked with FleetCor general counsel Sean Bowen.

In the first deal, FleetCor acquired lodging-management technology provider Corporate Lodging Consultants of Wichita, Kan., from private equity firm Nautic Partners LLC for undisclosed terms. Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge advised Nautic Partners.

Shortly after the acquisition, Fleetcor raised $100 million in equity to help finance the transaction. FleetCor raised the funds from a group led by Summit Partners, its majority shareholder.

FleetCor, of Norcross, sells fleet cards that track fuel usage to companies that manage vehicle fleets and to oil companies. FleetCor provides data processing for the fleet cards. Its clients include BP, Chevron, Citgo and MasterCard.

In an effort to expand its offering of satellite-network products, a spinoff company of Rockwell Automation reached an agreement to acquire a Gwinnett County satellite-technology company.

This month Rockwell Collins Inc. agreed to acquire DataPath Inc. of Duluth for $130 million in cash. The deal is pending regulatory approval. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough partners Steve Berson and Brian Galison represented DataPath. They worked with DataPath's general counsel, Steven Wilson. Chadbourne & Parke advised Rockwell Collins.

Rockwell Collins, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, makes cockpit display systems, flight deck avionics, cabin electronics and mission communications for the aviation industry and the military. DataPath makes satellite communications networks for the military and for commercial customers.

American Software Inc. and Logility Inc. are tight and the two companies are looking to get even closer.

American Software is one of the oldest technology companies in Atlanta, founded in 1971 by James Edenfield and Thomas Newberry. Closely associated with American Software is the company Logility Inc., founded by Edenfield and Newberry in 1996 and headed up by Edenfield’s son, Michael.

Both American Software and Logility are involved in the business of supply chain-management software. The two companies are intertwined. They share sales channels. James McGuone is the general counsel of both companies and Vincent Klinges is the chief financial officer of both companies. Michael Edenfield was chief operating officer of American Software before being named CEO of Logility.

When Logility held its IPO in 1997, American Software owned about 84 percent of Logility’s shares. That amount has risen to about 88 percent. Now American Software wants to own the entirety of Logility. American Software has offered to acquire the remaining shares of Logility it doesn’t already own for about $8 million. American Software’s tender offer begins on April 10 and will expire on April 30.

Because of the close family and financial ties between the two companies, it should come as no surprise that the boards of both companies have formed special independent committees to assess American Software’s offer.

American Software’s special independent committee is taking counsel from Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz partners Sam Chafetz in Memphis and Henry Levi in Atlanta. Meanwhile, Logility’s special committee hired Jones Day partner Lizanne Thomas and associate Heith Rodman, both of Atlanta.

Rogers & Hardin partner Bob Hussle represented Atlanta Equity Investors LLC on a series of transactions.

In the first transaction Atlanta Equity made a significant investment and acquired a controlling stake in Empower Software Solutions Inc., Hussle said. Secondly, Empower renegotiated the terms of a $31 million credit agreement with Chatham Capital Partners Inc. Finally, Empower acquired a tax-compliance business from Sage North America. Financial terms were not released for any of the transactions.

Burr & Forman partners Ed Snow, Deborah Franz and Bill Joseph advised Chatham Capital. Rogin Nassau of Hartford, Conn., advised Empower.

Atlanta Equity is an investment fund that was founded by Georgia-Pacific Chairman Emeritus Pete Correll [photo, right] and former executives of Navigant Capital Advisors and Arcapita. Empower is an Orlando, Fla., maker of human resources software. Chatham is an Atlanta mezzanine investment firm.

Atlanta Equity Investors’ first fund, a $109 million private equity fund, has also invested in NRI Construction, which provides maintenance and renovation services to apartment complexes. Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker partner Rey Pascual advised Atlanta Equity on that deal, which closed in May.

Forget iPods. For the rabid music fan, a Sooloos offers everything that hardcore audiophiles could want.

Manufactured by the New York company Sooloos LLC, the Sooloos is a computer that creates compression-free digital music files. By forgoing compression, Sooloos claims that its music files are of a far higher quality than an MP3 file or another type of music file on a PC or an Apple Mac computer.

The Sooloos system also stores high-quality versions of album art. Users choose music through a touch-screen that organizes music based on album art. Sooloos can also be adapted for the storage of video and photography.

The price of a Sooloos starts at $7,900.

Sooloos LLC was recently acquired by a British maker of top-end audio equipment, Meridian Audio Ltd., for undisclosed terms. Meridian, which has its North American headquarters in metro Atlanta, called on the Atlanta office of Seyfarth Shaw for legal counsel on the acquisition.

Seyfarth partner Brian Gannon was lead corporate and intellectual property counsel to Meridian. Seyfarth partner Alex Drummond handled labor and employment issues. The Atlanta accounting firm Smith & Howard PC advised Meridian on tax issues.

Cooley Godward Kronish senior counsel Russell Berman in New York advised Sooloos co-founded Enno Vandermeer, Gannon said.

The audio equipment made by Meridian isn’t too shabby, either. Meridian, founded in 1977, makes a wide array of CD players, speakers, amplifiers and tuners. Meridian also makes DVD players, video projects and related software.

Deals can still be made, even in this brutal economy.

In a deal involving companies that make anti-counterfeiting technology, New York private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg LLC acquired a Alpharetta company’s subsidiary, which had been put on the auction block.

The Alpharetta company, Nanoventions Holdings LLC, turned to longtime outside counsel at Bryan Cave-Powell Goldstein for advice on corporate and intellectual property matters.

Nanoventions sold its Visual Physics unit to Lindsay Goldberg for undisclosed terms. Lindsay Goldberg will combine Visual Physics with its portfolio company Crane & Co. of Dalton, Mass.

Visual Physics makes micro-optic security films used for anti-counterfeiting and brand protection applications, according to the company. Crane makes fine stationery and counterfeit-deterrent banknote papers.

Bryan Cave-Powell Goldstein partner Todd Wade advised Nanoventions on corporate matters, and partner Scott Killingsworth advised on intellectual property. Bryan Cave-Powell Goldstein partner Rick Miller sits on Nanoventions’ board but wasn’t involved in providing legal advice, Wade said.

Thomas Kayden Horstemeyer & Risley partner Todd Deveau serves as patent counsel to Visual Physics, Wade said. Choate Hall & Stewart partner James Hackett in Boston advised Lindsay Goldberg.

Lindsay Goldberg lined up financing for its acquisition of Visual Physics, but the companies aren’t disclosing terms of the financing, Wade said. Cleveland investment bank Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. ran the auction for Nanoventions.

Pegasus Imaging Corp. returned to the lawyers at corporate law boutique Trusted Counsel LLC for advice on its latest deal for a British company.

Last week Pegasus acquired Tasman Software of Leeds, United Kindgom. Tasman makes barcode software development kits. The deal brings Pegasus “Java and Java ME mobile barcode technology” to its own barcode offerings, according to a news release.

Trusted Counsel attorneys Evelyn Ashley, Susan Craighead and Ann Moceyunas, all in Atlanta, advised Pegasus on the deal. Robin Baron Commercial Lawyers of London advised Tasman.

Tasman had supply contracts with Apple Computer, Adobe Systems, Lexmark International and others, but Pegasus is terminating all of those contracts, the company said.

Less than a month ago, Pegasus acquired rival company AccuSoft Corp. of Massachusetts.

Pegasus, of Tampa, Fla., makes digital-imaging software including its ImagXpress-brand software development kit, which used in the medical industry and in other fields.

Morris, Manning & Martin partner Grant Collingsworth and DLA Piper partner Jeff Leavitt were counsel on both sides of a recent venture capital investment in an Atlanta technology company.

FTRANS Corp. last month obtained a $3 million venture-capital investment from three groups - Total Technology Ventures LLC, Greenhill SAVP and New Atlantic Ventures. All three groups had previously made investments in FTRANS, which stands for Financial Transaction Systems. FTRANS makes software for the financial-services industry.

Collingsworth was counsel to FTRANS on the deal, and Leavitt to the investor group, according to Collingsworth. Total Technology Ventures is an Atlanta outfit, Greenhill is based in New York and New Atlantic in Reston, Va. and Cambridge, Mass.

Work in most areas of corporate law may be moribund, but not every segment is kaput. One active segment is venture capital investments in high-tech startups.

Consider the deal 2080 Media Inc. of Atlanta just made for a digital media company developed at Turner Broadcasting. 2080 Media of acquired PlayON! Sports from Turner last month for undisclosed terms. PlayON produces and distributes Internet broadcasts of untelevised college and high-school sports events. PlayON’s clients have included the Atlantic Coast Conference and Raycom Media.

Because of a variety of factors, tech startups actually thrive during economic downturns, said DLA Piper partner Jeffrey M. Leavitt, who was involved in the 2080 Media-PlayON Sports deal.

“Resources, like office space and salaries, are cheaper now,” Leavitt said. “Big companies are not really focused on research and development in this period. So, if you’re a startup developing some technologies, when the economy recovers, big companies will be looking to acquire the technologies they didn’t develop themselves.”

Amgen, Apple Computer and Microsoft all went through their incubation phases during economic recessions, Leavitt said.

2080 Media financed its deal for PlayON Sports partly through a $3 million fund it raised from local investors, Leavitt said. Leavitt and colleagues at DLA Piper, including associates Brian M. Gordon and S. Kiran Lingam, advised the fund’s lead investor, Imlay Investments Inc. and a second investor group, Noro-Moseley Partners. 

Another investor group, Buckhead Investment Partners, took legal advice from McKenna Long & Aldridge partner Michael J. Cochran and associate Bill C. Wainwright III.

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough partners Donna K. Lewis and Brian S. Galison and associate Hemant D. Dutta represented 2080 on the acquisition of PlayON.