Truck manufacturer Federal Signal Corp. (NYSE: FSS) is buying Mark Rite Lines Equipment Co., a producer of truck-mounted road-marking equipment, for up to $70 million. The target, which generated about $67 million in sales in 2018, makes products that are used to pave roads and remove lines. The deal is part of Federal Signal's strategy to invest in infrastructure as more self-driving cars get on roads. The auto sector is going through a major shift, as cars are being made with additional technology, including innovations for self-driving cars and connected devices. "With the need to invest in aging infrastructure and the anticipated need for road-marking changes to support the future evolution of connected and autonomous vehicles, these are exciting times in the road-marking industry," says Federal Signal CEO Jennifer Sherman. "The acquisition represents a natural and strategic extension of our market position as a specialty vehicle manufacturer serving maintenance and infrastructure markets. It also allows us to further diversify our revenue streams and end market exposures as we seek to mute the impact of market cyclicality." Healthcare companies are spending more on information technology than ever before. Private equity firms including Bain Capital, Great Hill Partners, GTCR, New Heritage Capital and the Riverside Co. are investing in the innovations most in demand, including big data, Software-as-a-Service and artificial intelligence. See 5 private equity-backed healthcare technology deals. DEAL NEWS Webster Equity Partners has acquired a majority stake in Vivona Brands, a provider of beauty, wellness and lifestyle products, from Inflexion Private Equity. Advisors to Vivona include: Alantra and DWF. The legal counsel to Webster is Goodwin Procter. Healthpoint Capital has purchased a majority stake in foot and ankle implants maker CrossRoads Extremity Systems. The legal advisor to Healthpoint is Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C. The legal advisor to CrossRoads is Waller, Lansden, Dortch, & Davis LLP. Court Square Capital Partners has bought L Squared Capital Partners' stake in Virtium, a provider of memory and storage products. Advisors to L Squared were Moelis & Co. (NYSE: MC), Vedder Price and BDO USA. Cove Hill Partners has acquired a minority stake in Clearlake Capital-backed legal software company NetDocuments. William Blair advised NetDocuments. Sidley Austin advised Clearlake. Sky Island Capital has purchased a majority stake in Material Sciences Corp. The target produces coated materials that are designed to address noises, vibrations, corrosion and architectural needs for the transportation and building products sectors. Sterling Partners’ Education Opportunity Fund has invested in Reading Plus, a literacy services company for grades 3-12. Graycliff Partners has acquired Sweeteners Plus., a manufacturer and distributor of essential liquid and dry sweeteners for restaurant, food and beverage and pharmaceutical sectors. First Busey has agreed to buy Investors' Security Trust, a wealth management firm in Fort Myers, Florida. Read the full story: First Busey to buy South Florida wealth management firm. PEOPLE MOVES Ken Regensburg has formed Sharp Action LLC, a venture capital and investment firm that is focused on the sports gaming sector. Regensburg was previously with law firm Squire Patton Boggs. FEATURED CONTENT Call for nominations: Mergers & Acquisitions has opened up the nomination process for the second annual 2019 Rising Stars of Private Equity. Last year, we named 11 PE investors to the list, including Ethan Liebermann, who was recently promoted from principal to director of TA Associates, and Jennifer Roach Pacini, a vice president of Yellow Wood Partners. For the Rising Stars of Private Equity, we look for individuals who are full-time private equity investors and whose best days are yet to come. These are the folks you predict will one day play a key leadership role at your PE firm – or will head up their own. There is no age cutoff. As a general rule of thumb, we are looking for candidates beyond entry-level investing but before making partner. We publish the list online in July and in the July/August issue of the magazine. The deadline for nominations is end of day Thursday, May 23, 2019. Nominations will be accepted only through our online form. There is no fee. CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE A RISING STAR OF PRIVATE EQUITY Click here for the 2018 Rising Stars of Private Equity. Technology is revolutionizing the healthcare industry and fueling an explosion of transactions. Some of the most promising areas of innovation are: big data, medical devices, revenue cycle management, Software-as-a-Service and payment processing. “Healthcare IT is the largest cottage industry in the world,” says Sam Hendler, who leads healthcare IT deals at Harris Williams, which recently won Mergers & Acquisitions’ 2018 M&A Mid-Market Award for Investment Bank of the Year. “Healthcare IT is a highly fragmented, multi-billion-dollar market with thousands of companies focused on different $250 million to $500 million sub-markets. Savvy investors see there is an opportunity to aggregate assets and build platforms of scale. It’s an incredibly exciting time in healthcare IT.” For an in-depth look at five technologies driving M&A in healthcare, see Healthcare's must-have technologies. Excelled. Innovated. Inspired. That’s what the eight winners of Mergers & Acquisitions’ 12th Annual M&A Mid-Market Awards did in 2018. Our awards honor the leading dealmakers and deals that set the standard for transactions in the middle market. In addition to Nike, award winners include: Fortive, TA Associates, the Riverside Co., Harris Williams, Monroe Capital, Goodwin and Luminate Capital Partners' Hollie Haynes. Read our full coverage: Meet the winners of the M&A Mid-Market Awards: Nike, Fortive, TA, Harris Williams. Technology permeates dealmaking today. “Tech is, more or less, touching everything,” as the authors of the 2019 BDO Technology Outlook Survey put it. You can see the impact of tech throughout the 2018 winners of Mergers & Acquisitions’ M&A Mid-Market Awards, especially Luminate Capital Partners founder Hollie Hayne scoring Dealmaker of the Year for raising a second fund to invest in enterprise software companies and TA Associates winning Private Equity Firm of the Year for investing a record $2.8 billion in new portfolio companies, most of which are infused with technology. Related: Why private equity firms still love technology Related: 10 private equity firms share strategies for tech M&A. Genstar Capital, Audax and HarbourVest ranked as the top U.S. private equity firms of 2018, based on volume of completed deals, according to PitchBook. Check out Mergers & Acquisitions' profiles of 21 firms that led the league tables. Top private equity firms: Genstar, Audax, HarbourVest. Also see: Top investment banks in PE-backed deals: KPMG, Houlihan, GS, William Blair. Mergers & Acquisitions has named 36 leaders the 2019 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A, including Kainos Capital's Sarah Bradley, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors' Nishita Cummings and Pelham S2K Managers' Venita Fields. All 36 are outstanding dealmakers both inside and outside of their firms. This year, we asked the featured dealmakers to tell their own stories through Q&As, including their advice for women. Related: Meet the 2019 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A. EVENTS Innovation Works holds its second annual AI/Robotics Venture Fair in Pittsburgh May 15-16. ACG Chicago hosts the Midwest Capital Connection, at The Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, May 21-22. ACG New York, ACG Boston and ACG Philadelphia are holding the Industrial Conference with Value Creation at the Infor in New York on June 6. The event is part of the Northeast Industry Tour. ACG Minnesota hosts the the Upper Midwest ACG Capital Connection at the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot, June 10-11. ACG Boston brings together 700-plus dealmakers for DealFest Northeast and DealSource Select 2019 at the Cyclorama and the State Room, June 12-13. Exponent Women hosts the Annual Exchange, which brings a trusted network of women dealmakers together for a focused day of robust content and networking, at Second in New York, on July 11. The Exchange provides attendees with opportunities to establish new connections, reinforce existing ones and absorb timely and relevant knowledge from industry leaders.