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Private equity investor Baird Capital Partners has acquired Digi-Star Holdings Inc., a manufacturer of agriculture scales and weighing equipment. Terms of the deal were not released. The PrivateBank and U.S. Bank National Association provided senior financing for the deal, with Fifth Street Finance Corp. providing mezzanine financing. Digi-Star is based in Fort Atkinson, Wis.
Brockway Moran and Partners has acquired Crisis Prevention Institute Inc. from the Riverside Company. Terms of the deal, which closed November 18, were not released. Based in Milwaukee, Crisis Prevention Institute is a training organization specializing in the safe management of crisis situations and disruptive behavior.
Publicly traded 3D Systems Corp. is paying $137 million in cash to buy Z Corp. and Vidar Systems from Contex Group. Contex is a subsidiary of Swedish private equity group Ratos. Z Corp. is a provider of personal and professional 3D printers, 3D scanners and other print materials and services. Vidar Systems is a provider of optical imaging technology for the medical and dental imaging markets.
OMERS Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Canada's OMERS pension plan, announced Monday that it has hired Derek Smyth as a managing director. Smyth worked previously as a partner at Edgestone Capital Partners, and also worked with Bridgescale Partners. The addition of Smyth is the second such announcement this month for OMERS Ventures. The firm recently added former PeopleSoft executive Howard Gwin as a managing director.
The Halifax Group has put an undisclosed amount of equity financing into acquisition, grants and professional services company XL Associates Inc. Terms of the deal were not released. Formed in 1989, XL Associates provides professional services to various federal agencies. The company is based in McLean, Va.
Mick Lopez has joined VC-backed Aricent Group as its new chief financial officer. Previously, he worked at Cisco Systems as vice president of corporate finance and operations. The Aricent Group is based in New Jersey, and backed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Sequoia Capital, The Family Office, Delta Partners, and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.
James Baxter was named publications chairman of the Financial Services Committee for the Association of Corporate Counsel. Baxter is the chairman for New York Global Group Inc., a middle-market focused private equity and corporate advisory firm.
Sitoy Group Holding Ltd., which makes handbags and leather good for the Prada fashion house, could raise about $127 million in a Hong Kong I.P.O., Reuters reported. Milan-based Prada, which raised about $2.5 billion in a Hong Kong IPO in June, agreed to buy 19.6% of the Sitoy shares on offer, with venture capital firm IDG buying 22%, IFR reported last week.
Abu Dhabi-based private equity firm Gulf Capital aims to close four private equity deals during the first quarter of 2012, Reuters reported. The firm is in the final stages of acquiring majority stakes in four regional companies, Reuters wrote. Gulf Capital currently has around $1 billion of assets under management.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is buying a 12.5% equity stake in Saba Infraestructuras, a Spanish operator of car parks and logistics parks. KKR joins a consortium of shareholders including Spanish savings bank Criteria CaixaHolding, investment firm Torreal and mid-market buyout shop ProA Capital.