B2B Construction Players Merge

eBricks.com Inc. and Blueline Online Inc. Monday merged in a deal that will offer the construction industry a suite of products to electronically collaborate on all phases of building projects.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The company, which has been renamed Cephren, offers a suite of Web-based collaboration and e-commerce services targeting the construction industry. eBricks offers an Internet-based exchange allowing companies to buy and sell construction products and services. Blueline specializes in Web-based project management software.

Separately, Cephren announced it had raised $41.5 million in additional funding from a variety of companies, including GE Equity Investments, GE Power Systems, Goldman Sachs and Grupo Picking Pack. Investment bank Warbug Pincus & Co. is the firm’s lead investor and has a seat on the company’s board.

The companies said the combination will strengthen the electronic commerce products available to their customers. The combined firm will have more than 10,000 registered users.

“Combining eBricks.com’s unmatched procurement technology with our premium ProjectNet collaboration platform places Cephren in a position to dominate the industry,” said Robert Majteles, Cephren’s president and chief executive officer.

ProjectNet enables architects, engineers, contracts and suppliers to coordinate communication, send design updates and conduct project meetings through a secure, Web-based extranet.

eBricks.com Founder and Chief Executive Tim Perini will become vice president of business development for the new firm.

Cephren was named after the master builder of the Great Pyramids.