Freestone Partners has teamed up with Patriot Capital to acquire ErgoGenesis from Independent Bankers Capital Fund. No financial terms were disclosed. Quarton Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to ErgoGenesis and IBCF in the transaction. Based in Navasota, Texas, ErgoGenesis is a maker and provider of ergonomic chairs and accessories.
Investment firm Orchard Holdings Group has acquired Lucas Group from H.I.G. Capital. No financial terms were disclosed. Livingstone Partners advised Lucas Group in the transaction. Lucas Group is an executive recruitment firm in North America.
IK Investment Partners, a European private equity firm, has agreed to acquire DNV Petroleum Services from Det Norske Veritas. No financial terms were disclosed. Headquartered in Singapore, DNVPS is a provider of fuel management solutions.
Swiss generic drugmaker Acino said it has accepted a takeover offer from Avista Capital Partners and Nordic Capital valuing the company at about 398 million Swiss francs ($439 million), writes Reuters.
Pitney Bowes has completed the sale of Pitney Bowes Management Services for $400 million in cash to funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management. Proceeds from the sale of the business will be used to pay down debt.
SFW Capital Partners-backed Spectro Inc., a maker of analytical software for the industrial performance fluids market, has acquired Wilks Enterprise for an undisclosed amount. SFW Capital invests in analytical tools and related services businesses.
Beringea has announced its fund’s exit from Livio (formerly Myine Electronics DBA Livio Radio). The Ferndale, Mich.-based company, which builds products and software tools to support in-vehicle connectivity solutions, was bought by Ford Motor Co. for an undisclosed amount.
R•O•M Corporation and Specialty Manufacturing have been sold to The Sterling Group and management. Sterling is combining the businesses through its holding company, Safe Fleet Acquisition Corp. Harris Williams & Co. acted as the exclusive advisor to ROM and SMI, portfolio companies independently operated and financed by Century Park Capital Partners.
AlpInvest Partners has suffered another departure, sister publication peHUB reported.
China's Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Corp is looking to buy Rio Tinto's stake in Montréal-based Iron Ore Co of Canada (IOC), reports The Wall Street Journal. According to "people familiar with the matter," the state-owned steelmaker is interested in acquiring, potentially with partners, the 59% position in IOC that Rio Tinto put up for sale in March 2013, underscoring China's continued appetite for metal assets. The story follows an August report by Reuters that several private equity firms that were also bidding, including Apollo Capital Management and Blackstone Group, dropped out after making offers that were deemed too low. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board was, according to Reuters, working on a proposal with Apollo. The IOC acquisition has been valued at up to US$4 billion.