Private Exits

Abraaj Capital has sold its majority stake in Septech Holdings Ltd., a Sharjah, UAE-based maker of water and wastewater-related systems. The buyer was Septch founder and CEO David Heffernan. No financial terms were disclosed, except that Abraaj reported a 39 percent IRR over its three-year holding period.

Baird Capital Partners Europe has agreed to sell Team BS Management Holding to Randstad Group for €71 million. Also selling is company CEO, and minority shareholder, Dirk Schmitt. Team BS is a German provider of temporary staffing and other HR-related services. It was acquired by Baird in 2004.

BioMeriux (Paris: BIM), a French in vitro diagnostics company, has acquired BTF Pty. Ltd., a Sydney, Australia-based provider of quantitative reference standards for microbiological testing. No financial terms were disclosed. BTF had been owned by Kestral Capital and company employees.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. has agreed to acquire the Dakota Minnesota and Eastern Railroad Corp. (DME), a portfolio company of Lombard Investments. The deal is valued at up to $2.48 billion, including a $1.48 billion up-front cash payment and another $1 billion in payments contingent on the development of a major rail line linking the DM&E to the Wyoming Powder River Basin coal deposits. Lombard led a $34 million buyout of DME back in 1986.

GTCR has agreed to sell its large minority stake in netASPx, a Herndon, Va.-based provider of applications management services, to NaviSite Inc. (Nasdaq: NAVI). The deal is valued at $40.5 million, including $15.5 million in cash and $25 million in convertible preferred stock. GTCR had invested around $100 million.

HP has agreed to acquire MacDermid ColorSpan Inc., a Minnetonka, Minn.-based manufacturer of wide-format digital inkjet printers. The seller is MacDermid Printing Solutions LLC, a Denver-based portfolio company of Court Square Capital Partners and Weston Presidio.

IBM has completed its acquisition of Princeton Softech Inc. from Apax Partners and LLR Partners for an undisclosed amount. Princeton Softech is a Princeton, N.J.-based developer of data management software.

Mason Wells Private Equity has agreed to sell Creative Forming Inc. to Spartech Corp. (NYSE: SHE) for approximately $61 million. Creative Forming is a Ripon, Wis.-based custom manufacturer of plastic packaging.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) has agreed to acquire the instrument sales business of Davis Inotek Instruments LLC, a portfolio company of private equity firm JPB Enterprises. No financial terms were disclosed. Davis Inotek is maker of calibration services for test, measurement and control instruments. Following the sale, it will be renamed Davis Calibration and will be singularly focused on its core calibration service solutions.