Blue Sage Completes Exit of Omaha’s PRIMUS Sterilizer Company

​According to preliminary data from Pitchbook, last week there were 18 M&A deals for a total of $6.94 billion capital invested. One deal, Colfax’s $3.15 billion bid for DJO Global, was for greater than $1 billion. A total of seven deals were for $100 million to $1 billion. Seven of the eighteen deals involved industrial, infrastructure, or manufacturing companies. The West Coast garnered the most attention with six deals. The following are a selection of last week’s deals within Skyline’s areas of focus.

• Austin, Texas-based buyout firm Blue Sage Capital completed its sale of Omaha’s PRIMUS Sterilizer Company, a provider of sterilization services and products for healthcare clients. PRIMUS manufactures mission-critical steam sterilizers and conservation accessories for their products. Chalmers Group, an Ontario-based manufacturer of a range of niche products, will be the new owner of PRIMUS.

• DJO Global, a manufacturer of a variety of medical devices through a number of brands, has agreed to a $3.15-billion merger bid from industrial giant Colfax (NYS: CFX). A Vista, California company, DJO designs and manufactures medical devices, including joint replacement pieces, diabetic footwear equipment, and cool pain therapy products. Colfax operates two business lines, one for welding equipment and another for air- and gas-handling equipment.

• Internet-radio provider iHeartMedia will acquire advertising-technology firm Jelli for an undisclosed sum. Jelli is provider of the RadioSpot Marketplace platform that allows advertising agencies and radio stations to buy and sell audio ad-space. The deal will enable iHeartRadio to further monetize its online radio platform in the light of its bankruptcy proceedings, as well as help Jelli expand its digital advertising capabilities.

• Avista Pharma is set to be acquired by Cambrex (NYS: CBM), a publicly traded pharmaceuticals company, for $252 million in cash. Avista provides a range of scientific services, including active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), drug product development, cGMP manufacturing and analytical microbiology testing. The acquisition will expand Cambrex’s API capabilities and will add early stage small molecule development to its portfolio.

• Autodesk (NAS: ADSK), the global architecture and construction software producing firm, has acquired construction productivity software firm PlanGrid for $875 million. The San Francisco startup was founded in 2011 to make construction paperless. The company’s software allows construction managers to monitor on-site progress by viewing PDF files of blueprints on their mobile phones and tablets, as opposed to wheeling a cart full of blueprints around the site.