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New York-based Ares Capital Corp. announced three financing commitments to new portfolio companies in the fourth quarter of 2011, totaling $640 million. The firm served as administrative agent, lead arranger and bookrunner in a senior secured credit facility to support the refinancing of Grocery Outlet Inc. by Berkshire Partners. The firm also acted as administrative agent in a second lien term loan to support the acquisition of Essent Healthcare by Warburg Pincus-backed RegionalCare Hospital Partners Inc. Finally, Ares served as administrative agent, lead arranger and bookrunner in a senior secured credit facility to support the acquisition of WorldStrides by The Carlyle Group.

Investment firm CI Capital Partners has acquired the operations of specialty plastic packaging company IntraPac Group. Terms of the deal were not released. IntraPac is based in Toronto. GE Antares Capital, BMO Capital Markets, Madison Capital Funding LLC and Audax Mezzanine provided financing for the transaction.

RockPort Capital has promoted Abe Yokell, Daniel Hullah and Dhiraj Malkani to partners at the firm. Yokell, who helped open the firm’s Menlo Park office, has been with RockPort since 2004. Hullah and Malkani joined RockPort in the Boston office in 2006. Formed in 2000, RockPort Capital has offices in Boston and Menlo Park.

Sigma-Aldrich Corp. is paying $350 million in cash to buy biopharmaceutical testing services provider Rockville, Maryland-based BioReliance Holdings Inc. from Avista Capital Partners, Reuters reported Monday. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of this year.

Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries are mulling a joint bid for French engineering company GTT, which is part-owned by U.S. private equity fund Hellman & Friedman. The company is valued at 1 billion euros ($1.27 billion), Reuters reported Sunday. GTT's three shareholders -- GDF Suez, the world's biggest utility by market value, French oil company Total and Hellman & Friedman -- are planning to sell their stakes, Reuters wrote.

The Carlyle Group will provide financing for construction of a $225 million renewable energy biomass project in Plainfield, Conn., Reuters reported Monday. The project will also be financed by defense services contractor SAIC Inc.

Publicly traded online search company InfoSpace Inc. is paying $287.5 million in cash to acquire online tax preparation software company TaxACT. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2012. Privately held TaxACT is based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. TA Associates, the majority shareholder of the TaxACT business, will sell its full holdings as part of this transaction, the company announced.

SSE Ventures, the venture arm of British utility SSE, has transferred its clean technology investments into a new 95 million pound ($146 million) fund, Reuters wrote Monday. Scottish Equity Partners will manage the fund. The Environmental Energies Fund has acquired nine clean energy investments from SSE Ventures' portfolio, including wave energy company Acquamarine Power, Reuters wrote.

Irving Place Capital has added Michael Howe as a senior advisor for the firm's healthcare practice. He is the former chief executive of retail-based healthcare provider MinuteClinic, and will help the firm identify and pursue new investments in the consumer-facing healthcare space. Irving Place Capital is a middle-market private equity firm based in New York.

David Young and Jeff Tannenbaum have joined early stage investment firm BlueRun Ventures, the firm announced. Young is joining BRV as a Venture Partner, and was previously a founding team member of Marvell Semiconductor. Tannenbaum is joining as a Principal, and was previously the founder of PhotoCrank and co-founder of interactive book startup DreamFront.