$LDL said acquisition was financed through combination of cash on hand and $85MM of borrowings from amended revolving credit facility, which was increased to $175MM. The amended facility provides additional capacity to support organic growth programs, fund capital investments and continue pursuits of attractive acquisitions.

$ABAX, a provider of medical diagnostic systems, said it obtained USDA approval for veterinary use of its new VetScan FLEX4 Rapid Test. The test is used for qualitative detection of Heartworm antigen and antibodies for Lyme, Ehrlichia and Anaplasma in canine blood. It provides veterinarians with increased flexibility to test infectious diseases.

$CBT elected Cynthia Arnold to its BoD, effective Jan. 18, 2018. She was also appointed a member of the Compensation Committee. $CBT elected Sue Rataj as Non-Executive Chair of the Board of Directors, effective March 9, 2018. $CBT said Roderick MacLeod will retire from the Board, effective at annual meeting that will be held on March 8, 2018.

$CBT's BoD declared a quarterly dividend of $0.315 per share on all outstanding shares of its common stock. The dividend is payable on March 9, 2018, to stockholders of record at the close of business on Feb. 23, 2018.

$ABAX reported preliminary financial results for 3Q18. Abaxis expects revenues in 3Q18 in a range of $59-60MM, an increase of 12-14% YoY. In addition, Abaxis expects operating income before income tax provision for this period of $9-10MM, compared to $10.8MM in last year's third quarter.

$ABAX expects its effective income tax rate to decline by 200-300BP in FY18 vs. FY17, excluding a one-time non-cash charge related to the Tax Act. In 3Q18, $ABAX expects its effective income tax rate to be approx. 27%, excluding the one-time charge. $ABAX expects effective income tax rate in FY19 to be lower by 1,000-1,200BP vs. FY17.

$ABAX expects revenues in 3Q18 to be $59-60MM, up 12-14%, over last year. $ABAX expects operating income before income tax provision of $9-10MM. The company expects GM to be 53.5-54%. During 3Q18, $ABAX expects to record a one-time non-cash charge of approx. $2.5-3.5MM as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

$IEX appointed Mark Beck to its BoD, effective Jan. 1, 2018. Beck has served as President and CEO of JELD-WEN Holding, a door and window manufacturers, since November 2015, and was appointed as a Director of JELD-WEN in May 2016.

$VMI appointed Donna Milrod and Stephen Kaniewski to its BoD, effective Jan. 1, 2018. Also effective Jan. 1, Mogens Bay, Chairman & CEO, will take over as Executive Chairman. Mr. Kaniewski, COO, will succeed Mr. Bay as CEO on Dec. 31, 2017. Catherine J. Paglia will succeed Kenneth E. Stinson as Lead Director upon his retirement on April 25, 2018.

Textron Aviation, a $TXT company, begun delivery to CanWest Air, a division of Nor-Alta Aviation Leasing Inc. When completed, this delivery will include nine Beechcraft King Air turboprop aircraft -- 8 King Air 250 and 1 King Air 350 aircraft -- which CanWest is buying to provide air ambulance support to Alberta Health Services in Alberta, Canada.

$TXT company Textron Aviation has obtained supplemental type certificate approval for the ‘Gogo AVANCE L5 connectivity system upgrade’ for its Cessna Citation X business jet. The system providers faster inflight connectivity speeds and enhanced network capacity. The company plans to introduce the AVANCE L5 system to more products.

$CIR has completed the previously announced acquisition of Fluid Handling (FH) from $CFX for approx $693MM of cash and newly issued CIRCOR shares. The transaction also includes $150MM related to the assumption of pension plan liabilities linked to the FH business. FH will become a third group within CIRCOR, called Pumping Technologies.

$B appointed Peter Gutermann to the position of SVP, General Counsel and Secretary. Prior to joining $B, Gutermann served as Corporate VP, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer for $UTX.

Engineering company $B has appointed Peter Gutermann as SVP and General Counsel. Most recently, Gutermann served United Technologies Corp.  as Corporate Vice President and Chief Ethics/Compliance Officer. Earlier, he held various roles within UTC, including VP and General Counsel of Propulsion/Aerospace Systems.

$IEX announced the acquisition of thinXXS Microtechnology AG, a manufacturer of microfluidic components serving the point of care, veterinary, and life science markets. Located in Zweibrücken, Germany, thinXXS will operate within IDEX Health & Science LLC, part of $IEX's Health and Science Technologies (HST) segment.

Technology company $B has appointed Richard Hipple to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Currently, Hipple serves as Executive Chairman of manufacturing firm Materion Corp. He assumed that position this year, after serving the company as Chairman and CEO since 2006. Earlier, he had held various leadership roles in the steel industry.

$IEX has approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.37 per common share, payable January 30, 2018 to shareholders of record as of January 15, 2018.

$SMP has formed a JV with China-based company Foshan Guangdong Automotive Air Conditioning Co., Ltd. $SMP will invest approx. $12.5MM in the 50/50 JV. The new company is named Foshan FGD SMP Automotive Compressor Co., LTD.

$NP BoD approved an 11% increase in the cash dividend to $0.41 from $0.37 per share with the first payment at the new rate beginning in the first quarter of 2018.

$DCI reported a 5% YoY growth in earnings to $60.9MM, or $0.46 per share, for 1Q18. Excluding items, EPS grew 21% YoY. Sales increased 16.6% to $644.8MM, with Engine segment up 25% and Industrial up 1.8%. The company expects FY18 GAAP EPS between $1.90 and $2.04, up 6% from prior forecast. Sales to increase 10-14% vs. the prior forecast of 4-8%.

$TXT company Textron Aviation has signed FedEx Express, a unit of $FDX, as launch customer for its new Cessna SkyCourier 408 cargo plane. FedEx, a long-time customer of Textron, will be purchasing 100 units, with an initial fleet order of 50 units and options for 50 more. The twin-engine, high-wing aircraft is expected to begin operation by 2020.