Erskine Bowles "likes" Facebook.

The former president of the UNC system has joined the social network giant's board of directors, adding to his long history of corporate board work.

Facebook has been beefing up its board as the company is widely reported to be preparing for an IPO next year. Other board members include Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Washington Post CEO Donald Graham and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

"Erskine has held important roles in government, academia and business which have given him insight into how to build organizations and navigate complex issues,” Zuckerberg said in a prepared statement.

SciQuest reported another quarter of solid sales growth, as the Cary company signs up more customers for its eprocurement technology.

Revenue for the second quarter was $12.9 million, up 22 percent from a year earlier.

The company, which made its Wall Street debut in September, recently signed a major contract with the state of Colorado. Analysts expect that could lead to other lucrative state contracts.

"We're not killing it, we're not missing it, but as we told investors when we did the IPO, we're going to keep churning out good growth," CEO Stephen Wiehe said in a phone interview.

Net income was flat at $600,000. SciQuest is spending more to win customers and hire new workers.

A Durham company developing experimental medicines to treat kidney cancer, HIV, lupus and other diseases plans to raise as much as $86.3 million in an initial public offering of stock.

Argos Therapeutics was founded in May 1997 based on Duke University research. The company's technology uses a type of white blood cell called a dendritic cell to create personalized therapies based on patients' Ribonucleic acid or RNA.

But its drugs still require several more years of expensive clinical testing before Argos can seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company reported a loss of $9.2 million last year.

Argos, which employs 57 people, has been funded by $89 million from private investors, including Durham venture capital firms the Aurora Funds and Intersouth Partners. It's also received more than $70 million from government grants.

The investment firm that bought Raleigh-based Capital Bank this year has filed plans for an initial public offering of stock, Charlotte Observer staff writer Rick Rothacker reports.

North American Financial Holdings is seeking to raise as much as $300 million by selling shares on Wall Street.

Its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as is typical, does not yet say how many shares the company will issue, what the initial price will be and what ticker symbol the company will trade under.

NAFH is a bank holding company led by former Bank of America executives Gene Taylor and Chris Marshall that raised $900 million from investors in 2009 to buy troubled banks. Since last summer, the executives have bought five banks in the Carolinas and Florida and have a deal pending to acquire a Tennessee-based bank.

NAFH plans to consolidate its banking subsidiaries under the name Capital Bank.

Read the full Charlotte Observer story here.

A Raleigh company that sells a blood test to measure patients' risk for heart disease is reviving plans for an initial public offering of stock.

LipoScience wants to raise $86.25 million in an IPO, the company disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The company first filed IPO plans in 2002, but scrapped them after failing to attract enough interest on Wall Street. This time, LipoScience officials are hoping that having a few more years of steady revenue growth will help sell their story to investors. They're also counting on renewed interest in IPOs.

Founded in 1994 based on research at N.C. State University, LipoScience's main product is the NMR LipoProfile, a diagnostic test that checks the levels of bad cholesterol in the blood.

SciQuest announced that its No. 2 executive, chief operating officer James Duke, right, plans to resign for personal reasons.

"I would like to thank Jamie for his leadership and dedication that have helped SciQuest reach the strong position we enjoy in the market today," CEO Stephen Wiehe said in a prepared statement. "We wish him the best of luck as he focuses on his personal goals after a transition period at SciQuest."

SciQuest executives, including CEO Stephen Wiehe, center, rang the opening bell at the Nasdaq stock market in New York City's Times Square this morning.

The ceremony came as the Cary technology company and its investors raised millions more on Wall Street by selling 4.7 million additional shares.

SciQuest made its debut on the Nasdaq after an initial public offering of stock in September, the first IPO by a Triangle tech company in years.

This week's so-called secondary offering raised more money to expand its business, and increased the number of shares on the market. It also allowed the company's early investors to cash out some of their holdings.

SciQuest shares, which began trading last fall at $9.50, fell 22 cents to $14.30 today.

Read today's full report on the company's stock sale here.

A Durham drug-development company raised nearly $50 million on Wall Street today after revising the terms of its proposed IPO to get the deal done.

Tranzyme previously filed plans to sell 5 million shares at $11 to $13 each. Under revised terms filed this morning, Tranzyme sold 13.5 million shares at $4 each in the initial public offering.

The stock is expected to begin trading as soon as Monday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "TZYM." A successful IPO would reinforce this region's cachet as a hub for drug research.

The changes reduced only slightly the amount Tranzyme was able to raise, about $48 million after expenses. That money will pay for further clinical testing of experimental drugs to treat gastrointestinal problems.

SciQuest and several investors sold 4.7 million shares this morning, marking the Cary technology company's second trip to Wall Street in six months.

SciQuest went public in an initial public offering of stock in September. Today's so-called secondary offering allows it to raise more money to expand its business, and increase the number of shares on the market.

"Our goal was to put a mix of new and existing investors in the business, and we were able to add some good ones," said CEO Stephen Wiehe.

Wiehe spent the past two weeks meeting with more than 100 mutual fund managers and other investors in 12 cities, selling SciQuest's story.

On Friday, he will join other SciQuest executives and ring the opening bell at the Nasdaq stock market in Times Square.

Tranzyme has taken a time out in its trek to Wall Street.

The Durham drug-development company filed plans in November for an initial public offering of stock and was expected to make its debut on the Nasdaq  this week.

But the deal has been pushed back until at least next week, a sign that the company may not be getting a welcome reception from Wall Street investors. That could force Tranzyme bosses and its investment bankers to delay the IPO, scrap it or accept a lower price.

"Deals will get done if it's the right deal," said David Menlow, president of IPOfinancial.com. "It's a deal that doesn't seem to be gathering much momentum."