Mergers and acquisitions

Valspar Corp., Minneapolis, completed its previously announced acquisition of Quest Specialty Chemicals Inc. The Charleston, S.C.-based maker of automotive finish and industrial coatings has annual sales of about $190 million. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

NEW PRODUCTS

St. Jude Medical Inc., Little Canada, announced the resumption of its U.S. IDE trial evaluating the Portico Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation System. The Portico IDE trial originally launched in May 2014, and is designed to support U.S. approval of the Portico system. The approval follows a comprehensive review of the Portico system by the FDA after St. ­Jude Medical paused implants of the valve worldwide in September 2014. The company decided to pause implants because of reports of reduced leaflet motion observations in patients implanted with Portico within the IDE study. The observation was subsequently identified in the study's control arm, which consisted of commercially available TAVR valves.

New Business

Gevo Inc., Englewood, Colo., owner of the isobutanol, ethanol and animal feed facility in Luverne, Minn., has signed an agreement with FCStone Merchant Services LLC to supply the Luverne plant with corn.

Norwest Equity Partners, Minneapolis, has made a significant investment in Welocalize Inc. Welocalize offers translation and localization products to help brands grow and reach audiences around the world in more than 157 languages. Welocalize's solutions include global localization management,translation, supply chain management, people sourcing, language services and automation tools including MT, testing and staffing solutions and enterprise translation management technologies.

Personnel

Epoch Lacrosse, Eden Prairie, announced the addition of Chris Fleck as the company's first financial controller and Joe Vitale as an outside sales representative.