Franke Foodservice Systems acquired Chain Link Services, a specialty distributor focused on national foodservice and convenience retail chain customers, based in Fort Worth, Texas. The deal deepens Franke's focus on supply chain, logistics and project management services for large customers.

DRÄXLMAIER Group completed an expansion of its existing manufacturing operations in Duncan, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, investing $42.7 million and creating 460 new jobs. The expansion adds equipment for new automotive interior production demands.

The City of Franklin will break ground on a $132.89 million upgrade and expansion of its water reclamation facility, awarded to Kiewit Infrastructure South Company. The project includes new digesters, UV disinfection, and SCADA system, with construction expected to take 3.5 years.

Biotage AB has agreed to acquire PhyNexus, Inc., a California-based company specializing in automated lab-scale purification technology for biomolecules. The acquisition aims to expand Biotage's separation business into new application areas.

Hyster-Yale Materials Handling will move its Bolzoni line's North America attachment manufacturing to its Sulligent, Alabama facility, expanding production there. The move begins January 1, 2019, and will phase out production at the Homewood, Illinois facility.

Leonardo DRS Inc. will build a new 350,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and offices in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, to consolidate its Naval Power Systems operations from Milwaukee. The $56 million project is expected to create 220 new jobs and open in 2020.

Siemens Healthineers largely completed the expansion of its Walpole, Massachusetts laboratory diagnostics manufacturing facility with a $300 million investment, creating up to 700 jobs.

Acuity Polymers, Inc. acquired the full range of Lagado contact lens materials from Menicon America on December 3, 2018. The manufacture of Lagado materials will be moved to Acuity Polymers in Rochester, NY.

Novo Nordisk will invest $22 million at its Diabetes Finished Products manufacturing facility in Clayton, North Carolina, creating 22 full-time jobs. The expansion follows a $65 million investment announced ten months earlier.

Avio-Diepen, a Proponent company, sold all its shares in the Tennessee-based joint venture ADPma LLC to the existing ADPma shareholders.

Bopp-Busch is restarting manufacturing at its idle Plant 3 in Tawas City, Michigan, after winning fifteen General Motors part contracts running through 2024. It bought five 150-ton presses from GM and plans to hire about eight employees.

James Hardie will spend up to $220 million on a 750,000-square-foot factory in Prattville's South Industrial Park, employing more than 200 people. Production is expected to start by spring 2019.

Chemours broke ground on a new HFO-1234yf production facility at its Corpus Christi plant in Ingleside, Texas. The $230 million investment will triple the company's capacity for low-GWP refrigerants, with the plant expected to start in Q3 2018.

Hudson Technologies has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Airgas-Refrigerants, a subsidiary of Airgas, for approximately $220 million. The acquisition is expected to close in 2017.

Kelvion has installed a new production line for air cooled condensers at its headquarters and manufacturing facility in Catoosa, Oklahoma. The line complements existing heat exchanger production.

CoolSys has acquired Certified Refrigeration and Mechanical, Inc. (CRM), a Madison, Wisconsin-based refrigeration services company with ten branch locations across the state. This establishes CoolSys' presence in Wisconsin.

AHT Cooling Systems USA plans to add a new production site at its headquarters in Ladson, South Carolina, for assembling commercial refrigeration and freezing equipment. The $5 million expansion is slated for completion by end of 2018.

Ingersoll Rand entered into an agreement with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation to establish a joint venture for marketing, selling and supporting VRF and ductless HVAC systems through Trane, American Standard and Mitsubishi channels in the US and select Latin American countries.

Emerald Textiles, a portfolio company of Pacific Avenue Capital Partners and Highland Avenue Funds, acquired the assets of Mediclean Linen and Laundry, a healthcare linen service provider in Los Angeles. The acquisition includes a $6 million capital investment to upgrade the facility.

Liberty Hall Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on aerospace and defense, has acquired Aircraft Performance Group, a provider of flight operations software solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Nuvera Fuel Cells, a subsidiary of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, has signed a definitive agreement to contribute substantially all of its PowerTap hydrogen generator assets to OneH2 in exchange for an approximately 15% ownership interest and a board seat.

Covestro is investing more than $1.7 billion to expand its Baytown, Texas site, adding 500 kilotons per year of MDI capacity. The project, called MDI-500, is expected to be completed in 2024 and will create at least 25 permanent positions and over 1,000 temporary construction jobs.

MFG Chemical is upgrading its Pasadena, Texas plant with a multi-million dollar investment including debottlenecking and the addition of two reactors, one of 20,000 gallons. The improvements are scheduled for completion by the end of Q1 2019.

GFG Alliance's Liberty Steel USA signed a binding agreement to purchase all outstanding stock in Keystone Consolidated Industries from Contran Corporation for $320 million in cash less certain assumed liabilities. The deal adds KCI's 1.1mt electric arc furnace in Illinois and downstream operations.

Portobello America will locate its U.S. headquarters and first U.S. production facility in Baxter, Tennessee, creating 220 jobs and investing approximately $150 million.

TCGRx, a portfolio company of Frazier Healthcare Partners, acquired Parata Systems, combining medication adherence packaging and robotic dispensing technologies.

Shape Technologies Group announced the creation of Shape Process Automation, combining Dynamic Robotic Solutions and Tech-Con Automation, to be a leading supplier of waterjet and laser robotic solutions.

Danfoss Turbocor Compressors will build a new facility in Tallahassee, Florida, expanding its footprint in Innovation Park and creating 120 new jobs, as announced by Governor Rick Scott. Construction was expected to be completed in 2019.

Olsson Industrial Electric, part of NAES Corporation, acquired Garrett Electric, an electrical contractor headquartered in Richland, Washington, in December 2018. The acquisition price was not disclosed.

GFG Alliance, through Liberty Steel USA, has completed the acquisition of Keystone Consolidated Industries (KCI) for $320 million from Contran Corporation. The deal creates one of the largest US wire rod producers and aims to grow US GREENSTEEL capacity to 5 million tons per annum by 2020.

Dominion Virginia Power started commercial operations at the 1,588MW Greensville County combined-cycle natural gas power plant in Virginia, built at a cost of $1.3 billion.

Freeport-McMoRan Morenci built a new $4.5 million wastewater treatment plant in Morenci, Arizona, to replace an outdated facility and support mine expansion. The plant was designed and constructed by Evoqua Water Technologies.

The town of Gilbert and city of Chandler, Arizona, completed a $67 million expansion of the Santan Vista Water Treatment Plant, doubling its capacity to 16,666 gpm. The project was designed by Black & Veatch and built by Sundt Construction and Sturgeon Electric.

Venture Global LNG awarded Kiewit the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The 10 MTPA facility is expected to be completed in 2022.

In December 2018, the Wieland Group acquired a majority share of E. Jordan Brookes, a distributor and service center for engineered materials, expanding its presence on the West Coast of the US.

Indorama agreed in late December 2018 to acquire an Alabama PET recycling facility from Custom Polymers, with combined annual capacity of 31,000 tons.

International Paper is developing a 159,486 square foot expansion of its Waxahachie plant to make finished corrugated boxes for the local market, according to a letter to the city.

Aluminum Castings Company (ACC), a subsidiary of Alcast, purchased the operating assets of Alcast Company Midwest Works LLC.

Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing Inc. announced a $138 million two-phase expansion of its Cartersville, Georgia facility, adding a 254,000-square-foot building with annual capacity of 2.4 million passenger tires and creating over 150 jobs.

Landmark Equipment, a Pettibone dealer in Portland, Oregon, announced a change in ownership. No further details on the new owner were provided.

Pexco LLC acquired tubing extruder Insultab, its second acquisition since being spun off from Spectrum Plastics Group.

Merit Medical Systems signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Cianna Medical, a leader in wire-free breast localization, for an upfront payment of $135 million plus potential earn-outs. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2018.

Boeing partnered with SparkCognition to set up a new company named SkyGrid in Austin, Texas, to integrate autonomous cargo and passenger operations.

AAR was awarded a five-year, $51 million contract by the U.S. Marshals Service to perform full maintenance and logistical support for its Boeing 737 aircraft used for prisoner transport.

Gulf Controls Company acquired the assets of the Fluid Power division of Valin Corporation on 30 November 2018. Valin Fluid Power, a hydraulic, pneumatic and electric products distributor with sites in Washington and Oregon, became a division of GCC.

The Pentagon awarded Pratt & Whitney a contract modification worth nearly $400 million for performance-based logistics sustainment of the F-35 F135 engine system.

Bosch plans to purchase the former Associated Fuel Pump Systems (AFCO) plant adjacent to its Anderson campus in South Carolina, investing an additional $45 million to expand production capabilities.

Siemens received an order from Lansing Board of Water & Light to supply three SGT-800 gas turbines and generators for a new gas-fired generating station in Lansing, Michigan. Commercial operation is scheduled for spring 2021.

RBC Bearings announced the divestiture of its wholly-owned subsidiary Avborne Accessory Group to AerSale for $21.5 million, subject to working capital adjustments.

Nippon Steel & Sumikin Bussan Americas (NSBA) and Pacesetter formed a strategic partnership, NSPS Metals LLC, to build a new service center facility in Houston, Texas. The joint venture will serve the Southwestern US and Mexico markets.