The word of the week for Boston-area deal-making was acquisition. You’ll see what I mean.

—Data-center-automation firm BladeLogic (NASDAQ: BLOG) of Lexington, MA, scored an impressive $800 million in a buy-out deal with Houston, TX-based BMC Software (NYSE: BMC).

—Beverley, MA-based Axcelis Technologies, a maker of specialized semiconductor manufacturing equipment, once again rejected a takeover offer by Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Heavy Industries. Wade unravels the complicated history between the firms.

—EMC (NYSE: EMC) of Hopkinton, MA, had better luck with its second shot at San Diego-based Iomega (NYSE: IOM). The California firm announced that it’s willing to discuss a revised bid from EMC, worth about $205.5 million, after rejecting an initial $180 million offer.

—Cambridge, MA-based Teragram was acquired by Cary, NC, business-intelligence giant SAS for an undisclosed sum. Teragram develops natural language processing tools for a host of companies.

—DNA-based diagnostics developer Exact Sciences (NASDAQ: EXAS) of Marlborough, MA, announced it would explore a sale of the firm or other strategic options. Money manager Kenneth Luskin of Santa Monica, CA’s Intrinsic Value Asset Management had urged the company to put itself on the block in an SEC filing made a few weeks earlier.

—Bedford, MA-based mobile music distributor Groove Mobile was bought by Framingham, MA-based NMS Communications (NASDAQ: NMSS) for only about 45 cents on the dollar.

—Marlborough, MA-based 3Com said it would seek a $66 million penalty payment from Boston-based Bain Capital, which gave up on a proposed takeover of 3Com after failing to get approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States for the deal.

And in non-acquisition-related news…

—LED lighting developer Luminus Devices of Billerica, MA, raised some $72 million in a round led by Braemar Energy Ventures of Boston and joined by CMEA Ventures, Paladin Capital Group, Battery Venture Partners, Argonaut Private Equity, Stata Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DFJ-New England, Eastward Capital, and others. Luminus, which previously focused on providing lamps for TVs and projectors, is in the midst of a big push to expand into the general-illumination market and other areas.

—Pogo Jet added its IPO to the list of offerings that have been pulled or delayed since the new year.

—Highland Capital Partners of Lexington, MA, and California’s Draper Fisher Jurvetson led a $12 million Series D round for CafeMom, a New York-based social network for mothers.

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Just four weeks ago, we wrote about Pogo Jet setting its IPO terms—noting that while other firms were taking flight from their initial public offering plans as the economy went into a nosedive, the Chicopee, MA-based jet charter service led by former American Airlines CEO Robert Crandall was “letting its IPO ambitions soar.” Indeed, even though it doesn’t expect to begin commercial operations with a fleet of very light jets (VLJs) until next year, the firm had filed plans with the SEC to offer 7 million common shares at between $12.50 and $16.50 per share.

It looks like news of the souring economy has finally reached Chicopee, as Pogo Jet announced yesterday that it has postponed its IPO “due to current market conditions.” Apparently, news of the flight delay hasn’t reached everyone at the firm, though. As we wrote this today, Pogo Jet’s homepage still carried the happy announcement: “POGO IS GOING PUBLIC” (which, presumably, it still is). And you could find all the details of Pogo Jet’s offering plan, an “OpenIPO” auction, here.

Meanwhile, just in case you’re keeping score, here’s our updated list of other New England firms that have pulled or postponed their IPO or secondary offering plans so far this year:

Archemix — Cambridge, MA-based biotech

Athenahealth (secondary public offering) — Watertown, MA, provider of business services for medical practices

BG Medicine — Waltham, MA-based molecular diagnostics firm

Elixir Pharmaceuticals — Cambridge-based biotech

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Bob and Rebecca both went on vacation last week, but local newsmakers didn’t. I did my best to keep on top of the business-and-technology headlines, with some help from a terrific freelancer, Neil Savage; here’s a look back at the bounty.

—Pogo Jet, a Chicopee, MA-based regional airline planning to fly very light jets like the Eclipse 500 between destinations in the Northeast and Canada, set the terms for its planned IPO at 7 million shares to be offered at $12.50 to $16.50 per share. The move came a year ahead of Pogo’s first planned flight.

—Bain Capital of Boston pulled the plug on its proposed $2.2 billion buyout of Marlborough, MA-based 3Com. Federal regulators opposed the deal because 3Com has a division that makes security software for the U.S. government and Bain’s partner in the buyout, Huawei Technology, is Chinese.

—A DowJones VentureSource report showed that two New England firms, Matrix Partners and Canaan Partners, were among the top 10 venture firms putting money into startups in India in 2007. Altogether, Indian entrepreneurs collected $928 million in 2007, up from $349 million the year before.

—In a Series E round, Waltham, MA-based Incipient, which makes software for managing enterprise data on storage-area networks, raised $15.6 million.

—Our stock description of Hopkinton, MA-based company EMC used to be something like “a maker of networked storage hardware.” Seems we’ll have to revise that description in light of EMC’s hiring this week of Paul Maritz, founder and CEO of Seattle-based software company Pi Corporation, to lead its new Cloud Infrastructure and Services Division, which will focus on various forms of utility computing and software-as-a-service. An company exec blogged that the move is a fundamental change of direction for EMC, which also acquired Pi for an undisclosed amount and will fold it into the new division.

—Luminus Devices, a Billerica, MA-based maker of very bright LEDs used in projection TVs, believes its Phlatlight diodes have the potential to light up indoor and outdoor spaces. It inked a deal with Phoenix, AZ-based Avnet Electronics Marketing to distribute its Phlatlight technology in the general illumination market.

—Digit Wireless, a Lexington, MA-based startup that licenses alternative designs for mobile-phone keyboards that allow faster text messaging, picked up $4 million from existing investors Qualcomm and Venrock and got a new CEO, former Telus Communications executive Robert Blumenthal.

—CMGI in Waltham, MA, paid $24.5 million to acquire Dedham, MA-based OCS, maker of a software system for administering software licenses.

—At the Game Developers Choice awards, the highlight of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, 2K Boston’s groundbreaking title Bioshock brought home the statuettes for Best Visual Art, Best Writing, and Best Audio.

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In today’s tough economic climate, high-tech firms have been taking flight when it comes to their planned IPOs—delaying them or canceling them outright (think Archemix, BG Medicine, and so on). But Pogo Jet, a Chicopee, MA-based jet charter service—aimed, no doubt, at least partly at the high-tech business set—is letting its IPO ambitions soar. The company, which plans to serve NorthEast and select Canadian markets when it begins commercial operations in early 2009, has set its IPO terms—filing plans today with the SEC to offer 7 million common shares at between $12.50 and $16.50 per share.

The company is led by Robert Crandall, former CEO of American Airlines. It plans to launch operations with a fleet of VLJs, or very light jets, designed to make charter jet service nearly as affordable as a business class seat on commercial airlines. (The company makes its intended demographic pretty clear on its website when it says two passengers on one of its Eclipse 500 jets “could easily bring two golf bags, two rolling bags and two pieces of soft-sided luggage.”) We recently took a more in-depth look at the promise of VLJs in this article about a Pogo Jet competitor, Concord, MA-based Linear Air, which also flies the Eclipse 500.

Pogo Jet’s biggest shareholders are Tiger Partners of New York and its chairman, Julian Robertson: both hold 30.82 percent pre-IPO stakes, according to the company’s SEC filing. The airline intends to trade on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol POGO.

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Last year was the best IPO year for venture-backed firms since 2004, and a great year for Boston-area offerings in particular, with area firms completing 17 IPOs worth a combined $1.3 billion, second only to San Jose-based firms’ 19 deals worth $2 billion

But enough about 2007. There are 10 New England life sciences and tech firms currently in registration. Which ones will make glorious market debuts in 2008? Which ones will file and fizzle? We’re not prepared to hazard a guess just yet, but we’d love to hear what you’re thinking.

Here’s what we know about the companies currently in registration (thanks to Renaissance Capital’s IPOhome.com and Morningnotes.com for use of the tools to aggregate the data):

GT Solar (SOLR) of Merrimack, NH
proposed maximum offering price: $200 million
filed: 4/26/07
latest filing: 6/5/07
recent news: In August, this supplier to the photovoltaic industry, signed a $171 million dollar contract with China’s Glory Silicon Energy to provide furnaces for silicon-ingot production.

NameMedia (NAME) of Waltham, MA
proposed maximum offering price: $173 million
filed: 11/2/07
latest filing: 12/13/07
recent news: NameMedia is cashing in on “direct navigation,” a phenomenon that Wade finds a tad disturbing.

Allegro MicroSystems (ALGM) of Worcester, MA
proposed maximum offering price: $115 million
filed: 8/8/07
latest filing: 11/30/07
recent news: The manufacturer of integrated circuits and sensors debuted two new automotive-grade motor controller integrated circuits in December.

POGO Jet (POGO) of Chicopee, MA
proposed maximum offering price: $104 million
filed: 9/13/07
latest filing: 1/4/08
recent news: POGO Jet plans to begin providing on-demand jet charter service in early 2009. (Yes, we know that’s not quite tech, but it’s cool.)

GlassHouse Technologies (GLAS) of Framingham, MA
proposed maximum offering price: $100 million
filed: 12/18/07
recent news: The provider of data-center management and Internet-based data backup services secured a $16 million convertible note loan from LRG Capital Group, Velocity Capital Group, and Leader Ventures in August

Elixir Pharmaceuticals (ELXR) of Cambridge, MA
proposed maximum offering price: $86 million
filed: 9/21/07
latest filing: 1/7/07
recent news: One of the founders of this firm, which is developing treatments for aging-related diseases such as cancer and diabetes, joined the scientific advisory board of rival Sirtris in November.

TransMedics (TMDX) of Andover, MA
proposed maximum offering price: $86 million
filed: 9/14/07
latest filing: 12/14/07
recent news: The firm, which makes a transport system for donor organs, closed a $25.5 million fourth-round financing that was one of the biggest New England venture deals of 2007′s second quarter.

BG Medicine (BGMD) of Waltham, MA
proposed maximum offering price: $80 million
filed: 8/3/07
latest filing: 12/28/07
recent news: The molecular diagnostics firm lowered the price range for its planned 4.5 million-share offering to $8 to $10 per share (down from $14 to $16) in December.

Archemix (ARCH) of Cambridge, MA
proposed maximum offering price: $69 million
filed: 7/24/07
latest filing: 1/3/08
recent news: The firm—which is developing “aptamers,” or short strands of DNA or RNA, as treatments for a variety of ailments—set terms for its offering of 4.5 million shares at $12 to $14 per share in October.

NitroSecurity (NITR) of Portsmouth, NH
proposed maximum offering price: $55 million
filed: 8/9/07
latest filing: 11/9/07
recent news: The network security firm inked a $3 million Army contract last month.

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