Regal Beloit agreed to acquire Italy's Nicotra Gebhardt S.p.A., a fan and blower manufacturer with about $150 million in annual revenue, for approximately 125 million euros or $154 million, with closing expected by the end of Q2 2018.

Solstad Farstad ASA entered into a contract with Fugro Netherlands Marine BV for the CSV Normand Flower for 6 months, and was awarded contracts by Spirit Energy for PSVs Far Sitella and Sea Titus, plus an undisclosed client for PSV Sea Spider, all in the UK sector.

VIP-Polymers Ltd. won contracts to supply tunnel segment gaskets for the Thames Tideway Central wastewater tunnel in London and the Mumbai Metro Line 3 in India. Supply for Thames Tideway commenced in December 2017.

Komatsu America Corp., through its subsidiary F and M Equipment, agreed to purchase the assets of PBE Group, which includes Pine Bush Equipment and East PBE. The deal is expected to close on April 1, 2018.

ABB is integrating Baldor Electric Co. into its global ABB brand, effective March 1, 2018. The rebranding covers all manufacturing, sales, and support facilities in the U.S.

Schoellhorn-Albrecht has been awarded a subcontract from Eastern Shipbuilding Group to design and manufacture deck machinery, deck fittings, accommodation ladder systems and structural castings for the US Coast Guard's Offshore Patrol Cutters.

GE Power's Automation and Controls business and SEW-Eurodrive have reached an agreement to sell each other's motion control and automation products globally, integrating VSDs and servomotors into GE's PACMotion product line.

GE Power's Automation and Controls business and SEW-EURODRIVE agreed to sell each other's motion control and automation products globally, integrating SEW drives into GE's PACMotion line and GE's IICS into SEW's portfolio.

Rexnord has closed the acquisition of Centa Power Transmission, a manufacturer of torsionally soft couplings for marine, industrial and wind markets. Centa is headquartered in Haan, Germany.

John Deere acquired a 50% stake in Xuzhou Xuwa Excavator Machinery (XCG), the third-largest excavator manufacturer in China, as part of its expansion in the Asian market.

Kubota plans to build a new small construction machinery plant in the US Midwest, with operations starting by 2022. Total investment is up to JPY 10 billion. Location and capacity details will be decided in 2018.

The Perm Metalworking Centers Plant (PZMTs) opened a second production site in the Osentsy industrial park, Perm Krai, after a 400 million ruble investment. The expansion will increase annual output to 200 metalworking centers.

Baker Hughes, a GE company, and HOERBIGER agreed a comprehensive cooperation for upgrade services and aftermarket of API reciprocating compressors, with HOERBIGER becoming authorized service provider in 25 countries, effective February 1, 2018.

Fertig Motors, part of the Beckhoff Group, officially inaugurated a new mechanical production facility in Marktheidenfeld, Germany on February 23, 2018. Over €4 million was invested in the building and €3 million in CNC machines, creating 2,500 m² of production space and 1,000 m² for offices.

Valmet will supply three OptiWin Drum winders to Shanying International Holdings Co., Ltd. for its mill in Jingzhou, Hubei province, China. The order is valued at typically EUR 10-20 million, with start-ups scheduled for end of 2018.

Tigercat broke ground on a $12 million, 11,800 square metre factory in Paris, Ontario, Canada, to produce swing machines and cut-to-length attachments. The company also purchased an existing facility in Kitchener, Ontario, increasing manufacturing capacity by 20%.

Indutrade has signed an agreement to acquire all shares of Zijtveld Grijpers B.V., a Dutch designer and manufacturer of hydraulic grabs for construction machinery. The closing took place on February 21, 2018.

MGG Group B.V., a specialist in high-precision aluminum sand casting, acquired Eurotech Group B.V., which has sites in the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Germany. The acquisition strengthens MGG's position in the European aluminum casting market.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems and Chubu Electric Power jointly developed the 'Q-ton Circulation' industrial heat pump, which uses low-GWP refrigerant R454C for the first time in Japan. It will be released from August 2018.

Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco) launched a new agricultural machine factory in Chu Lai open economic zone, Quang Nam province, Vietnam. The factory covers 12,500 m², with an investment of 500 billion VND, and will manufacture tractors, combine harvesters, and other agricultural equipment.

UK Shared Business Services Ltd, on behalf of STFC, awarded a contract for the supply, delivery and training of a positional 5-axis universal mill. The machine must be delivered by 30 March 2018.

BOC Australia unveiled a $15 million robot cylinder automation system at its Sydney Operations Centre, using a six-axis robot and turntables to sort and move cylinders. The site produces more than 1.3 million cylinders each year.

Deere & Co. announced it will build a construction equipment manufacturing plant in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area in northern China, producing four-wheel-drive loaders and excavators, with a $50 million investment.

Harrison Spinks is investing £1.8 million in a wire drawing facility on British Steel's site in Scunthorpe, creating 22 jobs. Two wire drawing lines will be installed at the end of April.

Hiab, part of Cargotec, is opening a new factory installation and competence centre in Meppel, the Netherlands, during the first quarter of 2018. The centre will offer FrameWorks subframes, truck bodies and complete vehicle solutions for Hiab's European customer base.

Eaton Compressor & Fabrication plans a 60,000-square-foot factory in Englewood, Ohio to make Eaton-Max DIY compressors for retail channels. The project needs $5 million in start-up funds and will initially hire 40 workers, rising to 75.

Curtiss-Wright agreed to acquire the Dresser-Rand Government Business from Siemens Government Technologies for $212.5 million in cash. The business makes high-speed rotating equipment such as reciprocating compressors and steam turbines for the U.S. Navy.

Bidell Gas Compression shipped the first compressor units fabricated at its Weirton, West Virginia facility to natural gas industry customers. The facility began operations in October 2017 and the company has 35 direct employees.

Brückner Textile Machinery built a new production site near Tittmoning, Germany, with 25,000 square meters of hall area, to expand capacity. The move began in November 2017 and will be completed in spring 2018.

GE Transportation is investing $200 million in a locomotive factory in Marhowra, Bihar, India, with 70% localisation by value. The facility will produce locomotives for Indian Railways.

Moog Inc. entered into a binding agreement to acquire VUES Brno s.r.o., a producer of custom designed specialized electrical motors. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and expected to close in about two months.

GRI Renewable Industries opened a new €40 million factory in the port of Seville, Spain, for production of offshore wind towers. The factory will employ up to 400 staff.

Insistens launched a new production line for milling cutters, drills and specialized tools in Yekaterinburg, with RUB 135 million investment partly from the Industrial Development Fund. Capacity will increase by 30% to 220,000 tools per year.

Ohio Transmission Corporation has acquired Compressed Air Systems, LLC, a Lafayette, Louisiana compressed air products and services provider and Quincy Compressor master distributor. The company will operate as a division of Air Technologies.

Sun Hydraulics agreed to acquire Faster Group, a Milan-based maker of quick-release hydraulic couplings, from Capvis Equity IV and co-investors for €430 million (about $531 million) in cash. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018.

Jacto, a Brazilian agricultural machinery company, inaugurated a new 3,600-square-meter plant in Arrecifes, Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a $7 million investment. The plant will produce sprayers and fruit turbines, creating about 30 jobs initially.

AMP Rose, a supplier of high-speed wrapping machinery and food processing equipment, relocated to a new £2 million purpose-built factory on Marshall's Way in Gainsborough, creating over 13 new jobs.

Wacker Neuson is building a seventh production hall at its Reichertshofen site in Germany, investing €7.5 million. The 8,000 m² hall will expand production capacity for compaction equipment and include a material and component warehouse.

Metal Powder Products LLC (MPP), a Mill Point Capital portfolio company, announced the acquisition of NetShape Technologies Inc., a manufacturer of engineered metal components using powdered metal and metal injection molding technologies, headquartered in Floyds Knobs, Indiana.

Nortek signed a contract to supply modular grease dosers for the Chinese paper industry, manufactured at its plant.

Magnum Capital and Alantra each acquired 44% of metalworking company ROQ, valuing the company at EUR 150 million. The deal closed in February 2018.

Rubble Master is expanding its headquarters in Linz-Pichling, Austria, to address capacity constraints and bring outsourced production back in-house. The expansion will create a Rubble Master campus.

Rubble Master, a manufacturer of mobile crushers, is acquiring a majority stake in Maximus, a Northern Irish manufacturer of screening plants, to complement its product range.

Cummins-Wagner Co., a mid-Atlantic industrial process equipment distributor, agreed to acquire the operating assets of EESCO Pump & Valve, a Baltimore service and machine shop. The deal was expected to close by October 2017.

Winsupply Inc. announced it has purchased Thomas Pipe & Supply, a Phoenix, AZ distributor of industrial pipe, valves and fittings.

Australian Crane and Machinery (ACM) will invest $16 million to set up a crane manufacturing centre at the former Holden plant in Elizabeth, South Australia. The 28,000 m² facility will create 190 jobs and begin production in early 2019.

GC PTM-Kaluga LLC signed an agreement to build an enterprise producing elevator equipment in the Rosva industrial park in Kaluga. The project involves an investment of about 120 million rubles and will create about 50 jobs.

Stankoflot LLC signed an agreement to build a new enterprise in the Borovsk site of the Kaluga SEZ. The project will produce cutting and auxiliary tools, equipment, and high-precision metalware, with an investment of 1 billion rubles and about 150 jobs.

Mark Andy made a conquest sale of a Performance Series P5 flexo press to Polish label converter Mal-Pol in Olesin, Poland. The 8-color press will help Mal-Pol develop its peel/reseal label business.

Masdac decided to build a new factory in Iruma, Saitama Prefecture, for manufacturing confectionery machinery. Construction starts in February 2018, with operations expected in December 2018. Total project cost is 1 billion yen.