Starent Investors Made a Bundle

Boston Business Journal reports: A handful of prominent investment firms stand to collect roughly $1.1 billion in Starent Network Corp.'s agreement to be acquired by Cisco Systems Inc. for $2.9 billion in cash.

The collection of investors includes a Who’s Who of local venture capital firms as well as Fidelity Investments, the Boston-based mutual fund and money management giant. Starent CEO Ashraf M. Dahod also among those who stand to gain big from the sale. As of Starent’s (Nasdaq: STAR) proxy filing in January, Dahod owned 6.9 million shares. At Cisco’s (Nasdaq: CSCO) proposed price of $35 a share, that stake would be worth $241 million today. According to recent regulatory filings, there have been no reported stock sales among those local investors this year.

The following is a breakdown of Starent’s largest shareholders, as detailed in the company's Jan. 15 filing:

• North Bridge Venture Partners in Waltham owned a 15 percent stake in the company valued at $367.5 million
• Fidelity Investments owned 9.2 million shares valued at $322 million
• Matrix Partners in Waltham owned 8.1 million shares valued at $283.5 million
• Highland Capital Partners owned 3.7 million shares valued at $129.5 million