VCJ Staff

Veronis Suhler Stevenson has agreed to buy Natick, Mass.-based educational publisher Cambium Learning from J.H. Whitney & Co. for more than $300 million. www.vss.com www.cambiumlearning.com

ElkCorp (NYSE: ELK), Dallas-based roofing and building products company, has deemed a $43.50 per share offer from Building Materials Corp. of America to be superior to a $42 per share offer from The Carlyle Group. It has given Carlyle five days to raise its bid, or else it will accept the BMCA bid and pay […]

The Carlyle Group has agreed to acquire Philosophy Inc., a Phoenix

Doughty Hanson is among the bidders for Aston Martin, the auto brand being sold off by Ford Motor Co., according to The Financial Times. Others include property tycoon Simon Halabi, Canadian car parts group Magna and Australian media magnate James Packer. The deal is expected to generate around Gbp450 million. www.astonmartin.com

Inverness Capital Partners has acquired ElectriTek AVT Inc., a Newton Square, Pa.-based maker of battery assemblies and chargers, according to LBO Wire. No financial terms were disclosed.

Norwest Equity Partners has sponsored the second recapitalization of Imperial Supplies LLC, a Green Bay, Wis.-based distributor of maintenance products to fleet and related industries. The proceeds from this second recapitalization, similar to the first one completed in February 2005, will provide a distribution for the company's shareholders and funding for continued growth initiatives. www.nep.com […]

Tonka Bay Equity Partners has acquired Circuit Check Inc., a Maple Grove, Minn.-based maker of interfaces to test mission-critical printed circuit board assemblies. No financial terms were disclosed. www.circuitcheck.com

Behrman Capital has acquired Peacock Engineering Co., a Geneva, Ill.-based provider of outsourced food packaging services to consumer products companies. The deal is valued at $172.5 million. Giuliani Capital Advisors advised Peacock on the deal, while leverage was provided by Bank of Ireland, Madison Capital Funding and Citigroup Mezzanine Partners. www.peacockeng.com

Pacific Equity Partners and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity have offered to acquire Veda Advantage Ltd. (f.k.a. Baycorp Advantage), a listed credit-checking giant in Australia and New Zealand. The offer is Au$3.61 per share, which would value Veda at approximately Au$823 million.

Texas Pacific Group confirmed that it is among the several bidders for Italian airline Alitalia SpA. The ultimate sale price could top $2 billion.