
Britain’s Smiths Group plc on Thursday said it has agreed to buy Illinois-based United Flexible for $345 million in a deal that adds new solutions for its aerospace and industrial product suite around tubing and hoses for fluid and fuel transfer and expands its geographic footprint.The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2019. United Flexible, which was acquired in 2015 by the private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners, is expected to generate $157 million sales this…