Newtown Square firm buys Warminster manufacturer

Graham Partners, a Newtown Square private-equity firm, said it had bought SP Industries, a Warminster company that designs and makes medical equipment and components used in pharmaceutical development and production. The price for SP Industries, which has 400 employees and between $75 million and $100 million in annual sales, was not disclosed. The seller was a Portland, Ore., private equity firm, Riverlake Partners, which had owned SP Industries since 2005 and expanded it through two acquisitions. Rob Newbold, Graham's managing principal overseeing the deal, said Graham had bought about 90 percent of SP Industries, with management owning the rest. One of SP Industries' four factories is in Vineland, N.J. - Harold Brubaker

An employee of Cigna Corp. has filed a $100 million federal lawsuit alleging a widespread pattern of sex discrimination and harassment against women at the Philadelphia health insurer. Contracting manager Bretta Karp of Shrewsbury, Mass., said in the suit, filed Thursday in Boston, that the company favored male employees for promotions, paid men more, and tolerated harassment and intimidation of female employees. Karp said that she had been denied promotions and raises and that her responsibilities had been reduced despite favorable performance reviews. The suit also alleges that when female employees complain, the company does little or nothing. The suit seeks class-action status. Cigna said in a statement that it was committed to diversity and equal opportunity, prohibited any form of discrimination, and intended to defend itself. - AP

Global food prices were the highest in 20 years last month and could increase further because of rising oil prices stemming from the unrest in Libya and the Mideast, a U.N. agency warned. The Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome said in a statement that its food-price index was up 2.2 percent in February, the highest level since January 1990, when the agency started monitoring prices. It also was the eighth consecutive month that food prices had risen, the agency said. Oil prices affect food markets in many ways, from production to transport costs. When oil prices are high, there is a bigger incentive to produce alternative fuels such as ethanol, which is made from crops such as corn. Increasing demand for alternative fuels made from crops drives up food prices. - AP

BP P.L.C. is blocking bonuses to executives who were responsible for operations in the Gulf of Mexico during last year's well blowout, including former chief executive Tony Hayward and the former head of exploration and production, Andy Inglis. The British oil company's annual report also revealed that new CEO Bob Dudley had decided to forgo his 2010 bonus but that two other directors would receive payouts linked to their performance in separate divisions. - AP

Apple Inc., which introduced the iPad 2 this week, is making $100 reimbursements available to customers who recently bought the original model. After presenting the iPad 2, Apple trimmed the price of the earlier version by $100. Under the company's retail-store purchase policy, when the price of a product changes, customers who bought the device in the previous 14 days can request a reimbursement of the difference between the prices. Customers also can exchange it for the new model. The first-generation device now ranges from $399 to $729, depending on the model. The new iPad, which starts at $499, is thinner and lighter. - Bloomberg News

Market research firm Gartner Inc. has reduced its PC shipment forecast for this year and next, predicting that the growing popularity of tablet computers such as Apple Inc.'s iPad will cut into the demand for consumer laptops. Gartner said it expected global PC shipments of 387.8 million in 2011, up 10.5 percent from 2010. Previously, it predicted 15.9 percent growth. In 2012, Gartner now thinks, 440.6 million PCs will be shipped, up 13.6 percent from its 2011 forecast. Its earlier estimate called for 14.8 percent growth. Gartner said that though consumer laptop shipments had climbed an average of 40 percent annually in the last five years, the availability of Internet access on various mobile devices meant consumers were not as tied to laptops in order to get on the Web. - AP

Productivity grew in the final quarter of 2010 at the fastest pace in nine months, but economists expect a significant slowdown in the rate in 2011. Productivity grew at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter as labor costs fell at an annual rate of 0.6 percent, the Labor Department said. Both figures were unchanged from a preliminary report a month ago. For the year, productivity grew 3.9 percent, the biggest increase in eight years. However, economists say productivity could grow at just half that rate in 2011 as companies reach the limit of the amount of output they can squeeze out of their current workforces and start hiring. - AP

The service sector, which employs about 90 percent of the U.S. workforce, expanded in February at the fastest pace in more than five years, offering the latest sign that hiring could accelerate this year. The Institute for Supply Management, a private trade group, said its index of service-sector activity rose to 59.7 last month, from 59.4 in January. That was the sixth straight monthly increase and the highest reading since August 2005. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. The index covers a broad range of industries, including retail, health care, and financial services, among others. A measure of hiring by service-sector companies rose to its highest level since April 2006. - AP

The average interest rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage dropped this week. Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance company, said the average rate on the 30-year loan had slipped to 4.87 percent from 4.95 percent. It hit a 40-year low of 4.17 percent in November. - AP