BIOTECH FIRM AVITIDE SOLD TO WALTHAM COMPANY

Hanover-based chromatography developer Avitide Inc., one of several biotech companies launched by Tillman Gerngross of Dartmouth, has been acquired by Repligen, a drug developer, for $150 million.

Repligen, based in Waltham, Mass., is spending $75 million cash and another $75 million in stock for the company.

Avitide has developed products for affinity purification, a process used to enhance or separate out biological compounds. The company’s products are capable of purifying enzymes, bispecific antibodies, hormones, vaccines and gene therapy viral vectors, among many other biologics used in drug development.

Repligen said it intends to use Avitide’s tools for its proteins business and will seek to expand Avitide’s market into emerging pharmaceutical fields.

HANOVER ASSET MANAGEMENT FIRM ACQUIRED

Victory Capital Holdings Inc. of San Antonio, Texas, has acquired New Energy Capital Partners, a Hanover-based asset management firm that focuses on investments in clean energy infrastructure projects and companies.

The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2021 and be immediately accretive to Victory Capital’s earnings.

“Launching an alternative investment platform creates an additional path for future growth,” said David Brown, CEO of Victory.

In 2020, projects funded by NEC offset more than 4.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. This greenhouse gas abatement equates to planting more than 73 million trees, the company said.

VAPOTHERM EXPANDS PRODUCTION AMID DELTA VARIANT SURGE

Vapotherm Inc., Exeter, has announced plans to expand its disposables production capacity by 75% at its plant in Mexico. The company said the expansion comes as it prepares for the possibility that Covid-19 becomes a “permanent part of the respiratory landscape.”

The expansion will diversify the company’s manufacturing base and is behind the firm’s concurrent announcement that it forecasts revenues of at least $120 million for the 2021 fiscal year — a significant increase from the previous forecast of $85 million to $91 million.

“Covid-19 has accelerated the adoption of our technology, and our installed base has continued to grow since the start of the pandemic,” said Joe Army, CEO of Vapotherm. He added that “the impact of the delta variant on U.S. hospitalization rates has materially accelerated since we last updated our fiscal year 2021 revenue expectations on Aug. 9, 2021.”

He said the company expects the U.S. demand “to continue through the third quarter. We are monitoring other potential Covid-19 variants in our markets around the world and the U.S. flu and (respiratory virus) seasons, both of which have started earlier than we’ve seen historically.”

HANCOCK LUMBER CO. IS ON AN EXPANSION SPREE

Winnipesaukee Lumber Company, a family-owned building supplier in Wolfeboro for the last 26 years, has been acquired by the fast-growing Hancock Lumber Co. of Casco, Maine.

Both companies are family businesses focused on contractor sales, high-quality products and personalized service.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and a Nov. 1 closing date has been set for the transaction.

Established in 1848, Hancock Lumber is a seventh-generation, integrated forest products company with 600 employees and 11 lumberyards, nine kitchen design showrooms and three sawmills. Hancock already has a New Hampshire location in North Conway.