BC Partners to Buy Mark IV Industries

BC Partners Ltd., a European buyout firm, said it agreed to buy Mark IV Industries Inc., a maker of automobile parts, for $1 billion in cash, its first acquisition in the U.S. BC Partners, which has made about 45 acquisitions since 1986, said its MIV Acquisition Corp. unit also will assume about $950 million in debt. The price represents a premium of about 6.6% on Mark IV’s closing price Friday of $21.56 on the New York Stock Exchange, and about 25% above its price before the company said in January that it was putting itself up for sale. Mark IV, which makes car filters, camshafts, belts and hoses, hired Bear, Stearns & Co. in January to arrange a sale or merger because the company had been unable to boost its stock price. The shares had fallen 11% in the six months before the Jan. 19 announcement that the company was seeking a buyer.