Two Orange County manufacturers have been acquired in separate deals valued at a combined $60 million.
Costa Mesa-based Pacific Handy Cutter Inc., a maker of cutting devices for everything from manufacturers to cigars, sold a majority stake in the company to American Capital Strategies Ltd., a Bethesda, Md.-based investment firm.
American Strategies’ investment includes a loan, credit line, other debt and shares. The deal is valued at $41 million. The firm is set to own 78% of Pacific Handy Cutter.
Started in 1950, Pacific Handy Cutter makes utility knives, box cutters, scrapers, blades and other items.
In the second deal, a unit of Amcol International Corp. of Illinois is paying $19.5 million to buy Santa Ana’s LBI Technologies Inc.
LBI makes Liquid Boot, a spray coating used to contain gas and other vapors. The company started in 1991.
Amcol, a maker of industrial clays, plans to add LBI to its Cetco Liquid Boot unit. The company plans to keep sales and production in Santa Ana.
