Key transactions & industry news Weekly Update 01/10/2025

Metals & Mining

Jan. 7, 2025 – Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. currently holds 84.375% of the outstanding shares of Coral Bay Nickel Corporation (“CBNC”), a nickel smelting and refining company located in the Philippines, and has decided to acquire additional 15.625% shares of CBNC from Nickel Asia Corporation. After the closing of the transaction, CBNC is expected to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining. (Sumitomo Metal Mining)

Jan. 7, 2025 – Dongkuk CM Co., Ltd. acquired an additional 41.33% stake in AJUSTEEL Co.,Ltd from Lee Hak-yeon, Yoon Mi-sook and others. A cash consideration will be paid by Dongkuk CM Co., Ltd. As part of consideration, an undisclosed value is paid towards common equity of AJUSTEEL Co.,Ltd. (MarketScreener)

Dec. 30, 2024 – International Aluminum Casting AB entered into an agreement to acquire the bankruptcy estate of Nyströms Pressgjuteri. Access will take place on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. Preparations for a restart of operations will begin immediately. IAC intends to further develop the business, which has a long and distinguished history in Gnosjö and Värnamo. (Gronskar Gruppen)

Transportation & Logistics

Jan. 8, 2025 – UPS announced that it has completed the acquisition of Frigo-Trans and its sister company BPL, which provide industry-leading, complex healthcare logistics solutions across Europe. The acquisitions further enhance the end-to-end capabilities available to UPS Healthcare customers, who increasingly need temperature-controlled and time-critical logistics solutions globally. Frigo-Trans’ network includes temperature-controlled warehousing ranging from cryopreservation (-196°C) to ambient (+15° to +25°C) as well as Pan-European cold chain transportation. This combined with the logistics solutions brought by BPL’s time-critical freight forwarding capabilities further enhances UPS Healthcare solutions for customers in Europe. (UPS)

Jan. 7, 2025 – Guardian Fleet Services, the leading provider of towing, recovery, and specialized transportation services, proudly announces its acquisition of Texas Auto Carriers, Inc (TAC), based in San Antonio, Texas, along with its affiliated brands, Ironcat, LLC and Wheelcat Logistics, LLC. Established in 1984, TAC brings a wealth of experience and capabilities, including light and heavy-duty towing and recovery, as well as heavy hauling and auto transport—an expansion in the Guardian service offerings. This strategic acquisition strengthens Guardian Fleet Services’ presence in Southern Texas, adding another major Texas hub, San Antonio, to its service area. (EIN Presswire)

Jan. 7, 2025 – AIT Worldwide Logistics, a leading provider of global supply chain solutions, is proud to announce that it has completed an agreement to purchase Krupp Trucking LLC’s (“Krupp”) business. Effective Jan. 1, 2025, the St. Louis-based freight forwarder specializing in the transportation of high-value goods, transferred all its assets and teammates to AIT and commenced operations as the AIT-St. Louis office. (BusinessWire)

Jan. 3, 2025 – Crowley announced that it has expanded its harbor services capabilities by acquiring Main Line Inc., a vessel mooring company based in Seattle. The Jacksonville, Florida-based provider of global land and sea logistics said Main Line will provide Crowley’s customers calling on the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, with vessel mooring and ship assist needs. (FreightWaves)

Building Products & Materials

Jan. 6, 2025 – Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Ltd, the building materials division of the Nirma Group, said it has emerged as the successful resolution applicant (SRA) in the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of Vadraj Cement Ltd. The Committee of Creditors has approved the resolution plan submitted by Nuvoco Vistas and a letter of intent has been issued, confirming Nuvoco Vistas as the selected bidder for Vadraj Cement’s assets. (CNBC)

Energy

Jan. 7, 2025 – Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Plains GP Holdings (collectively, “Plains”) announced three bolt-on acquisitions for an aggregate cash consideration of approximately $670 million net to Plains, the purchase of approximately 18% of its outstanding PAA Series A Preferred Units and a 20% increase in its annualized distribution rate. (GlobeNewswire)

Jan. 7, 2025 – Palmdale Oil, a leading provider of fuels, propane, lubricants, and chemicals with delivery solutions across the state of Florida, announced it has acquired Combs Oil Company, a Naples, Florida-based distributor of diesel fuel, gasoline, lubricants, and related products. (PRNewswire)

Jan. 6, 2025 – Phillips 66 announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to buy EPIC Y-Grade GP, LLC and EPIC Y-Grade, LP which own various subsidiaries and long haul natural gas liquids pipelines, fractionation facilities and distribution systems for total cash consideration of $2.2 billion, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. Upon closing, this transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings per share. (Phillips 66)

Others

Jan. 3, 2025 – Getty Images Holdings is exploring a merger with its rival Shutterstock, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter, sending the stock of both image licensing companies up in afternoon trading. Getty’s shares were up 20.3% in afternoon trading, while shares of Shutterstock were up 7.7%. The decline in the popularity of stock image websites has coincided with the rise of AI tools like Midjourney and DALL-E 2, which can generate unique images quickly and cheaply. (Reuters)