Roper Industries Inc. is a company that likes to shop. Just this year, the Duluth, Ga.-based maker of industrial controls, instrumentation and other engineered products has bought transportation products and services provider TransCore Holdings Inc. for about $600 million; the power generation business of R/D Tech Inc. of Quebec City for roughly $38 million; and Neptune Technology Group Holdings Inc. from Investcorp for about $475 million. So it figures that when the company needed a new chief financial officer with transactional skills, it might look to an organization known for industrial-strength deals. Last month Roper welcomed its new CFO: Michael Towe, lately of General Electric Co.

Towe replaces Martin Headley (who left to become CFO of Teleflex Inc.) and got right to work, as Roper announced an equity offering to fund the TransCore acquisition. Having begun his career in GE's financial management program in 1977, he has worked in various financial roles in GE's businesses, including CFO jobs within GE Plastics, GE Capital Corp. and GE Equipment Services.

Roper has completed more than 30 acquisitions since its 1992 initial public offering and shows no signs of slowing up. TransCore, whose specialties include radio frequency identification, is billed as a growth platform, and Towe came aboard talking about growth platforms yet to come. - Phineas Lambert

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