KKR & Co. Inc. (KKR Quick QuoteKKR - Free Report) has agreed to buy Circor International, an industrial machinery maker, for $1.6 billion. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

After the acquisition, KKR will take Circor private as it seeks to double down on investments in the flow-control market.

Circor has 3,100 employees, and makes pump and valve systems for sectors, including oil and gas, industrial, aerospace, and defense.

Notably, flow-control products help manage and control liquids and gases using equipment or services such as pumps, valves, compressors and meters.

KKR said that it would pay $49 per share, representing a premium of 55% to Circor’s closing price on Friday.

Circor’s chief executive officer, Tony Najjar, said, “KKR will help us expand our presence in the flow-control space.”

Over the last six months, shares of KKR have gained 14.2% against the industry’s fall of 2%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Currently, KKR carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Inorganic Expansion Efforts by Other Companies

Recently, Ellington Financial LLC (EFC Quick QuoteEFC - Free Report) entered a definitive agreement to acquire Arlington Asset Investment Corp. in a stock-and-cash transaction. The merger transaction is likely to provide an increased scale of operations and enhanced access to capital markets.

Per the terms of the agreement, each share of Arlington common stock will be converted into 0.3619 shares of Ellington Financial common stock or 11.7 million shares of EFC’s common stock in aggregate. Also, EFC’s external manager is to contribute cash of $3 million in the aggregate (or $0.09 per share) to the common stockholders of Arlington.