Vascular Surgical Associates of Scarsdale relocated to Rye this week to join The Westchester Medical Group, a multi-specialty practice with 125 physicians at 1 Theall Road in Rye. The Scarsdale office, at 14 Harwood Court, is closing after 25 years. The surgeons are Dr. Kenneth S. Schwartz, Dr. Neil S. Weintraub and Dr. George O. Piccorelli. They will also continue to see patients in their Yonkers office at 136 South Broadway. Patients can call 914-848-8750 for an appointment at either office, and medical records can be accessed from both locations.

USI Holdings Corp. said it has agreed to acquire Jericho, Long Island-based Armitage & Co., a provider of property, casualty and other insurance products and services.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the Briarcliff Manor-based company said it expects the acquisition to add about $2.5 million to annual revenues.

Armitage will be combined with USI’s existing Woodbury office, USI said.

Westcon Group Inc. of Tarrytown said this week that it had bought the wireless networking company Cernet of America, Inc. and its related Mexican company, Cernet Tecnologia en Telecomunicaciones, S.A. de C.V. Terms were not announced. Cernet has a customer base of over 300 resellers throughout the Caribbean and Latin American region, an area not currently served by Westcon.

PepsiCo of Purchase said yesterday it will buy Comercio de Doces Lucky Ltda., a Brazilian snack company. Terms were not disclosed. Lucky’s brands include Torcida and Fofura, which together account for the bulk of its revenues. The transaction is subject to approval by CADE, Brazil’s competition authority.

MVC Capital Inc. of Purchase said yesterday that it had invested $24 million in Custom Alloy Corp. of High Bridge, N.J., a manufacturer of pipe fittings for the natural gas pipeline, power generation, oil and gas refining and extraction, and nuclear generation markets. The investment includes $14 million of subordinated debt and a $10 million minority equity interest.

Shleppers Moving & Storage, a residential and commercial moving company based in Elmsford, recently acquired Elmsford-based Royal Moving Systems, Inc., a full service residential and commercial moving company, and Miracle Moving, a high-end company based in New York City.

Allen Golan, who was president of Royal, was named chief operating officer of Shleppers, and Nissim Knafo, founder and former chief executive officer of Miracle, is now senior relocation consultant.

“Royal’s systematic approach to organization and transportation and its strong customer focus will enable our expanded company to offer a broader range of moving services to the Westchester market,� said Shleppers President Louisa Benjamin-Bohm, a Harrison resident who founded the company in 1978. “Miracle adds expertise in white glove and intricate moves for design professionals.�

Fortistar LLC, based in White Plains, announced that it has acquired Minnesota Methane LLC and United Gasco LLC from TD Banknorth NA. The portfolio includes 15 landfill gas-to-energy projects located mainly in California, the Midwest and the Northeast. The price of the transaction was not disclosed.

Fortistar takes landfill gas, which is methane, and converts it to electricity or heating gas. Fortistar Methane Group now owns 43 facilities with 210 megawatts of generating capacity and four facilities that sell landfill gas to commercial customers for building heat. It has plans to complete $100 million of expansions over the next several years, the company said. Its other holdings include Gas Recovery Systems LLC, Gas Recovery Services of Illinois LLC and other natural gas and bio-mass generating facilities in New York and California.

“We are committed to being the premier company in the landfill gas-to-energy industry,� Fortistar Methane Group President Tom Gesicki said in a written statement.

Tappan Wire and Cable, Inc., a Blauvelt-based supplier of wire and cable products for the security, industrial, and communications markets, announced today that its management team has completed an acquisition of the company. The financing for the buyout was provided by management and Allied Capital Corp., a Washington-based business development company. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. The current management team will continue to run the company and control the board.

A European generic drug subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. will purchase O.R.C.A.pharm GmbH, a private German specialty drug company, for $28.7 million, plus up to $17.8 million more if profitability milestones are met this year and next.

O.R.C.A.pharm specializes in drugs for the oncology market in Germany. Its buyer is Zagreb, Croatia-based PLIVA, which Barr acquired last fall.

Barr, a maker of generic and specialty drugs, became the third-largest generic drugmaker in the world with the PLIVA acquisition. Barr has research operations in Pomona.

National Home Health Care Corp., the Scarsdale home health-care company that is being acquired by Angelo Gordon & Co., said today the merger won’t be completed next month, as anticipated.

National Home said it agreed to extend the termination date of its merger with the Manhattan investment bank to Nov. 21 to allow additional time for state Department of Health approval.

The extension may result in an increase of 10 cents a share in its quarterly dividend payment, raising it to 17.5 cents a share, National Home said.

Shares of the provider of home health care and staffing services were higher by 18 cents in mid-afternoon trading to $12.45 a share.

The White Plains accounting and consulting firm of Marden, Harrison & Kreuter has merged with J.H. Cohn LLP of New Jersey. Two of Marden, Harrison & Kreuter’s founding shareholders, Arnold I. Marden and Stephen J. Harrison, will become co-managing partners of the firm’s White Plain’s office. The firm’s Long Island office will relocate to J.H. Cohn’s office in Jericho. Marden, Harrison & Kreuter has more than 50 employees and serves clients in real estate and construction industries.

Debt Resolve Inc. of White Plains, which provides a way for lenders, debt collectors and other parties to settle disputes on the Internet, said yesterday that it expects to complete a previously announced acquisition of Creditors Interchange on Aug. 31. When Debt Resolve announced the deal to buy the Buffalo-based accounts receivables management company in May, it had expected to close the deal by the end of June. Also yesterday, Debt Resolve said that it has secured acceptable terms for up to $40 million in debt financing for the acquisition.

IBM Corp., whose ThinkPad laptops were first used by astronauts aboard the space shuttle in 1993, is once again seeing its technology flying into space. The Armonk-based computer giant said yesterday that NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander is outfitted with computer chips based on IBM’s Power architecture. The “brains� of the spacecraft use the same underlying IBM technology that’s in game consoles like the Xbox, 50 percent of cars and more than half of the world’s fastest computers. IBM licensed its Power technology to BAE Systems, which built the radiation-hardened RAD6000 computer inside the lander. The Phoenix Mars Lander is scheduled for takeoff today from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

In other IBM news, Big Blue said yesterday that it will buy Princeton Softech Inc., a private company based in Princeton, N.J. The company, which has 220 employees, makes data-management software. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close this year, were not disclosed.

Platt, Barth, Elson & Steinman P.C., an accounting firm based in Tarrytown, has merged with Marks Paneth & Shron LLP, a Manhattan accounting and consulting firm with an office in Tarrytown. The merged firm is operating as Marks Paneth & Shron and has offices at 660 White Plains Road in Tarrytown.

Prudential Rand Realty announced yesterday that it has acquired Michael A. Gibbons Realty Inc. in Dobbs Ferry.

“We are building a formidable presence in the river towns and Michael and his associates are a great addition to our sales force there,� Arlyne Ashkinos, vice president of Prudential Rand Realty, said in a statement.

Prudential Rand, based in New City, has 21 offices in the Hudson Valley, including riverfront locations in Yonkers, Tarrytown, Nyack and Stony Point.

Gibbons, a former U.S. Marine, opened his own firm in 2000. Gibbons and eight of his sales associates have joined Prudential Rand in their new Dobbs Ferry location on 108 Main St. The phone number is 914-693-2224.

Citing recent market volitility, Cadbury Schweppes PLC is postponing the sale of Americas Beverages. The unit includes Snapple, managed out of Rye Brook, as well as Dr Pepper and 7 Up. The United Kingdom-based company had announced last month that it was selling its beverage unit to concentrate on candy-making. On Friday, it announced that “a decision has been taken to extend the sale timetable to allow bidders to complete their proposals against a more stable debt financing market.�

Ridgewood Savings Bank announced today that it has completed its $119 million acquisition of City & Suburban Financial Corp. and its subsidiary, City & Suburban Federal Savings Bank, based in Yonkers.

With the purchase completed, Queens-based Ridgewood said it now has some $4.1 billion in assets, $2.5 billion in loans and $3.2 billion in deposits and has expanded its presence to 35 branches in seven counties that include three in Westchester: Bronxville, New Rochelle and Yonkers.

The transaction added 12 branches and about $678 million in assets, $480 million in loans and $580 million in deposits based on June 30 financial data, Ridgewood said.

“The culmination of this strategic acquisition marks an important beginning for the expanded footprint of Ridgewood Savings Bank, which will now feature a significantly increased presence in the Bronx as well as entry into Westchester County and Manhattan,� said William C. McGarry, Ridgewood’s chairman, president and chief executive.

Drew Industries Inc. of White Plains yesterday said its subsidiary, Lippert Components, bought a maker of specialty trailers for high-end boats for $10.7 million in cash. Drew bought Extreme Engineering Inc. of Riverside, Calif., and its affiliate, Pivit Hitch Inc., both of which had combined sales last year of about $12 million. The deal will add to profitability immediately, Drew said.

Domain Home, an upscale furniture retailer with a location in Hartsdale, has been acquired by Synergy Enterprises LLC, a New Jersey-based private investment firm, Synergy announced today. Synergy purchased the Norwood, Mass.-based retailer from Aga Foodservice Group, a kitchen products company based in the United Kingdom. As part of the agreement, Aga will retain a 15 percent equity interest in Domain Home, and Domain’s founder and chief executive, Judy George, will remain in her position, Synergy said. Domain Home has 27 stores in the Northeast and employs 264 people.

National Home Health Care Corp., the Scarsdale-based home health-care provider that has been the subject of a bidding war, reported today that its shareholders have approved a merger agreement with Angelo Gordon & Co., an investment bank based in Manhattan.

NHHC’s shareholders will be entitled to $12.75 per share. The transaction is expected to be completed by Sept. 10.

Angelo Gordon has agreed to the settlement of a class-action lawsuit in exchange for the payment of an additional 10 cents a share to NHHC shareholders. The suit was filed earlier this year in response to NHHC’s original intention to accept an offer of $11.35 to $11.50 a share.

The other potential buyer was Premier Home Health Care Services Inc. of White Plains. Premier and Angelo Gordon have been submitting competing offers to buy the company since last fall.