Benchmark Electronics (Angleton, Texas) signed a stock purchase agreement in exchange for $45.2 million in cash with ACT Manufacturing (Hudson, Massachusetts) to acquire the stock of ACT Manufacturing Thailand Public Co. Ltd. and ACT Manufacturing UK Ltd. ACT recently entered into a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy process and received court approval to conduct an auction process, at which Benchmark prevailed. The transaction was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts. ACT provides electronics manufacturing services to equipment manufacturers in networking and telecommunications, computer and industrial and medical equipment markets.

Endocare (Irvine, California) said it agreed to acquire the mobile prostate treatment business of U.S. Medical Development (USMD; Dallas, Texas), a privately held urology services company distributing products in 16 western states. Endocare will purchase the business with about $11.2 million in cash, the assumption of debt and forgiveness of debt. Endocare develops urological healthcare technologies for men. It has historically sold products through an exclusive distribution agreement with USMD, and the acquisition now allows it to sell directly, it said in a statement, "to the large base of USMD customers via an experienced sales force with established physician relationships." The transaction formally terminates the current distribution agreement with USMD, formerly owned by US Therapies.

Equidyne (Amherst, New Hampshire) said it has repeatedly informed Rosch Medizintechnik (Berlin, Germany) that Equidyne has no interest in being acquired by Rosch in exchange for Rosch shares. Equidyne's chairman, James Gavin III, said his company "cannot see the advantage to Equidyne shareholders of receiving shares of a company whose ability to continue as a going concern is threatened by its current burn rate and critical cash position." Equidyne, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Equidyne Systems (San Diego, California), is working to capitalize on the market for needle-free drug delivery systems for subcutaneous injections. The Injex needle-free injector is a compact, uncomplicated device that delivers a virtually painless injection through the skin in a fraction of a second, and eliminates needle stick and disposal problems.

Honeywell (Morris Township, New Jersey) said its Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions (ACS) division signed an agreement to acquire for $415 million in cash Invensys Sensor Systems (Shelby, North Carolina). A unit of Invensys (London), Invensys Sensor Systems is a global supplier of sensors and controls used in the medical, office automation, aerospace, HVAC, automotive and consumer appliance industries. It will become part of the Automation and Control Products unit of ACS. Labeling the sensor system division as a non-core business, Invensys CEO Rick Haythornthwaite said, "Sensor Systems and Honeywell make a good strategic fit and I am confident that the Sensor Systems business will continue to prosper under its new ownership."

Inverness Medical Innovations (IMI; Waltham, Massachusetts), a provider of women's health and nutritional products and a developer of medical device technologies, signed an agreement with MedPointe (Somerset, New Jersey) to acquire that company's Wampole Laboratories (Princeton, New Jersey) unit, a developer of point-of-care medical diagnostics. Inverness will pay about $70 million in cash for Wampole. The funding will come both from existing financial resources and additional borrowings, including convertible or similar borrowings, which may be dilutive, the terms of which Inverness expects to finalize in the near future, Inverness said. The transaction is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and is expected to close this month. Inverness said Wampole has developed a profitable medical products presence through its ownership of a portfolio of intellectual property for point-of-care diagnostics in professional settings and that it is likely to generate revenues of more than $40 million annually.

MedicalCV (Minneapolis, Minnesota) reported acquiring the exclusive licensing rights to manufacture and distribute the IMA Access Retractor, a device designed to improve harvesting of the internal mammary artery, the vessel usually used in heart bypass surgery, from the inner chest cavity. The IMA Access Retractor also is designed to function with existing sternal retractors, "potentially making the procedure faster and easier for the surgeon to perform, as well as less painful and with fewer potential complications," MedicalCV said. Terms of the agreement with an unnamed inventor group were not disclosed. Blair Mowrery, president and CEO for MedicalCV, said, "The IMA Access Retractor provides a growth opportunity to expand our offerings to the cardiovascular surgical suite and nicely complements our core products, the Omnicarbon heart valve line." MedicalCV said it will begin selling the device worldwide within three months and expects it to be immediately accretive to earnings. A patent is pending for the device.

OptiCare Health Systems (Waterbury, Connecticut) reported selling its North Carolina retail optical division, which provides optometry services throughout that state, to Optometric Eye Care Center. The value of the deal is about $5.7 million.