Industrial Opportunity Partners acquired Royston LLC for undisclosed terms. The Jasper, Georgia-based target designs and installs checkout stands, customer service centers and beverage counters for grocery stores and other mass retailers. Royston marks IOP's second investment out of the private equity firm's third fund. Winston & Strawn represented IOP. Comerica Bank, Stifel Bank, Associated Bank and Norwest Mezzanine Partners provided financing. IOP is an Evanston, Illinois-based middle market PE firm that invests up to $50 million in businesses that have between $30 million and $350 million in revenue. In December, the firm bought wood mouldings maker Alexandria Moulding.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) reached a deal to buy venture capital-backed cloud security company Evident.io for $300 million. Evident, based in Pleasanton, California, provides cloud security automation for businesses, by assessing security risks and reducing manual tasks.

Huntsman Corp. agreed to purchase spray foam producer Demilec from Sun Capital Partners for $350 million. Demilec produces spray foam products for both commercial and residential facilities. The target has manufacturing facilities in Arlington, Texas and Boisbriand, Quebec, and $170 million in annual revenue. Huntsman says the acquisition is a good opportunity for Demilec to grow internationally.

RateGenius Inc. has received a growth equity investment from Tritium Partners. RateGenius helps consumers with with cost-saving auto refinance opportunities through its network of more than 160 lenders. The company saves customers an average of $70 to $100 per month on their auto loan payments. Silvermark Partners advised RateGenius. Investors Bank provided debt financing.

Walker & Dunlop Inc. (NYSE: WD) has agreed to buy real estate financial services firm JCR Capital. Denver-based JCR, which has more than $800 million under management, invests joint venture equity, preferred equity, mezzanine debt, and transitional first-trust loans in commercial real state. Walker & Dunlop CEO Willy Walker says the deal is part of the company's goal to have at least $8 billion in assets by 2020. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Wind Point Partners-backed St. George Logistics, a provider of logistics and transportation services, has bought Summit Northwest Corp. Summit, founded in 1999, is an import and export logistics provider in Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, British, Columbia. Among the target's services include: warehousing and distribution, container freight station services, first and last mile delivery, and container drayage. St. George recently purchased freight provider Freight Force.

Serent Capital bought auto dealer software provider Systems 2000 Inc. The target's software helps auto dealerships with payroll, accounting and website management. Cassel Salpeter & Co. and Holland & Knight advised Systems 2000. Morris Manning & Martin LLP represented Serent. Financial terms were not disclosed.

SJW Group (NYSE: SJW) and Connecticut Water Service Inc. have agreed to merge in a deal valued at around $750 million. The combined company will be the third largest water and wastewater utility operator in the U.S. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (NYSE: JPM) and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP are advising SJW. Wells Fargo Securities LLC (NYSE: WFC) and Sullivan & Cromwell are advising Connecticut Water.

Atlas Cloud Enterprises Inc. acquired bitcoin mining facility MKH Electric City Holdings LLC. Crytocurrency is on the verge of a possible M&A wave. Coinbase brought aboard new vp of biz dev Emilie Choi, who previously oversaw 40 transactions at LinkedIn.

West Lane Capital Partners LLC completed fundraising for its new private equity fund. Los Angeles-based West Lane will look to make control acquisitions in small and middle market companies in the consumer, food and beverage, manufacturing, logistics and distribution sectors. The firm did not disclose any financial details on the fundraise.

Jamba Juice rival juice chain Juice It Up has been acquired by private equity firms Dover Shores Capital, Britt Private Capital and Jupiter Holdings. Financial terms were not disclosed. Irvine, California-based Juice It Up operates around 90 juice bars.