Key transactions & industry newsWeekly Update 03/13/2026

What We Found Interesting This Week

Rio Tinto, Chinalco Clear Hurdle in Brazil Aluminum Deal


Rio Tinto and Chinalco have received unconditional approval from Brazil’s antitrust regulator CADE to jointly acquire a controlling stake in Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio (“CBA”) from Grupo Votorantim for $910M, clearing the final regulatory hurdle on a deal first announced in January. The investment will be managed through a joint venture structured 67% in favor of a Chinalco subsidiary and 33% held by Rio Tinto, a split worth noting given that Chinalco already holds a 14.55% stake in Rio Tinto itself, making this less a conventional partnership than a deepening of a relationship that already carries meaningful strategic overlap between the two companies. CBA is a vertically integrated, low-carbon aluminum producer spanning bauxite mining, alumina refining, and smelting, powered by 23 hydroelectric generators and several wind farms across Brazil that feed its smelting network, which produced 360,000 tonnes of aluminum in 2024. The timing of the approval lands in a favorable market context, with LME aluminum prices up sharply on Middle East supply disruptions and CBA shares having more than doubled over the past twelve months to push its market capitalization to approximately $1.29B. For Rio Tinto, which produced 3.38M tonnes of aluminum last year from hydropowered smelters across Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, CBA extends a deliberate bet on low-carbon aluminum capacity at a moment when the premium for green metal is becoming a commercial reality rather than a marketing point, and acquiring Brazilian hydropower-backed production adds a geographically diversified, structurally low-cost asset to a portfolio that will matter more as buyers in automotive and aerospace begin enforcing Scope 3 commitments across their supply chains.

Recent M&A Transactions

Metals & Mining

Mar 11, 2026 – Hill & Smith PLC, a leading provider of solutions that enhance the resilience of vital infrastructure and the built environment, announces the acquisition of Freeberg Industrial Fabrication Corp. (“Freeberg”) for $36M. Located in Escondido, California, Freeberg is a leading U.S. designer and manufacturer of custom enclosures and other engineered solutions that serve data center, power generation, and other infrastructure markets. (HSGroup)

Mar 10, 2026 – Austria’s aluminum supplier Hammerer Aluminium Industries has acquired a 5% stake in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s aluminum producer Aluminij Industries from Israel’s M.T. Abraham Group. (SeeNews)

Transportation & Logistics

Mar 11, 2026 – LOGISTEC, a leading North American marine terminal and logistics services provider announced the acquisition of Travero’s Logistics Park Dubuque, a multi-purpose marine terminal located in East Dubuque, Illinois on the Upper Mississippi River. The terminal’s connectivity strengthens LOGISTEC’s inland waterways network reach, providing strategic routing options for agriculture, manufacturing, and energy supply chains across the U.S. Midwest and the Gulf Coast. (PRNewswire)

Mar 10, 2026 – Ocean Network Express Pte. Ltd. entered into agreement to acquire additional 18.51% stake in Atlas Corp. from Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited for $1.1B and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Ltd. acquired ~14.6% of Atlas Corp. for ~$840M. (MarketScreener)

Mar 10, 2026 – Ridgewood Infrastructure, a investment firm focused on essential infrastructure in the United States, announced that it has acquired a controlling interest in Sierra Railroad Company, a California-based shortline rail platform providing freight rail, switching, storage, and transloading services. Simultaneously, Sierra Railroad Company is acquiring Central Valley Ag Transport, an agricultural products transload facility owner and operator. (PRNewswire)

Building Products & Materials

Mar 11, 2026 – KPS Capital Partners, LP announced that, through a newly formed affiliate, it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Jennmar and its affiliates. Jennmar is a leading global provider of safety-critical products and essential services to the mining, civil infrastructure, solar and construction industries. (PRNewswire)

Energy

Mar 11, 2026 – Greenbelt Capital Management L.P. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Peak Utility Services Group, a premier provider of essential utility infrastructure services, from ORIX Capital Partners, the private equity arm of ORIX Corporation USA. (PRNewswire)

Mar 9, 2026 – EQT has agreed to acquire a 42% shareholding in Kelda Holdings Limited, the parent company of Yorkshire Water, provider of critical water and wastewater services in the Yorkshire region of the UK. Yorkshire Water provides essential water and wastewater services to approximately 5.5 million individual customers, serving over two million homes and 140,000 businesses. (PRNewswire)

Mar 9, 2026 – Aecon Group Inc. (TSX:ARE) announced that its subsidiary, Aecon Utilities Group Inc., has acquired Duna Services, LLC and its subsidiaries Arc American, LLC and C.A. Advanced, LLC, and a 49% interest in KNX Utility Services, LLC from Ryker Holdings Inc. for a base purchase price of $60M. (BusinessInsider)

Mar 9, 2026 – Siris, a private equity firm targeting services companies that support critical technology infrastructure, announced a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in TAKKION, a premier integrated services provider to the renewable energy industry that generated approximately $600M in revenue in 2025, from funds managed by Apollo (NYSE:APO). (GlobeNewswire)

Mar 6, 2026 – Lycos Energy Inc. (TSXV:LCX) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Mahikan Oil Corporation, a privately-held, arm’s length, heavy oil producer, to complete a strategic business combination in an all-share transaction. Lycos is also pleased to announce a concurrent equity financing to be offered on a non-brokered private placement basis for aggregate gross proceeds of $30M. (Newsfile)

Others

Mar 11, 2026 – Cintas, a maker of workplace products, agreed to acquire UniFirst in a deal with an enterprise value of $5.5B, more than four years after it first bid for the smaller uniform supplier. (WSJ)

Mar 7, 2026 – German publisher Axel Springer struck a deal to buy Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper for around $770M, adding the venerable U.K. title to its stable of media properties. (WSJ)

Top News Stories

Metals & Mining

Metro Mining restarts Bauxite Hills operations after wet season maintenance. Metro Mining has resumed work at its Bauxite Hills mine in Cape York, North Queensland, after finishing maintenance carried out during the wet season shutdown.

Reliance, Inc. Subsidiary AMI Metals, Inc. awarded significant government infrastructure and defense projects. Reliance, Inc. (NYSE:RS) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, AMI Metals, Inc. has been awarded two significant contracts for United States government infrastructure and defense projects, reinforcing the Company’s position as a trusted partner in the aerospace and defense market.

Arconic completes $175M Davenport casthouse expansion, capacity boost ahead. The $175M casthouse expansion by Arconic Davenport Works has been officially completed. The firm, which is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, specializes in providing aluminum sheet, plate and extrusions, along with cutting-edge architectural products.

Rio Tinto, Chinalco clear hurdle in Brazil aluminum deal. Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE:RIO) and the Aluminum Corporation of China, known as Chinalco, cleared the final legal hurdle to go ahead with their joint acquisition of a controlling stake in aluminum maker Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio — CBA (BVMF:CBAV3).

Rio Tinto ships first lithium from Rincon, nets $1.175B project loan. Rio Tinto (ASX, LSE: RIO) has made its first commercial shipment of lithium carbonate produced at its Rincon project in Argentina. Located within the heart of the lithium triangle in the northwestern Salta province, Rincon represents a large-scale, low-cost lithium brine asset targeting an annual production capacity of 60,000 tonnes in battery-grade carbonates.

Trafigura signs battery-grade lithium carbonate offtake agreement with Smackover Lithium. Trafigura, a market leader in the global commodities industry, has signed a binding take-or-pay offtake agreement with Smackover Lithium, a joint venture between Standard Lithium Ltd and Equinor, through subsidiaries of Equinor ASA, for the supply of battery-grade lithium carbonate from the South West Arkansas Project.

Transportation & Logistics

CPKC certifies 14 new Site Ready locations across North America. Canadian Pacific Kansas City (TSX:CP) (NYSE:CP) announced the certification of 14 new Site Ready rail-served industrial development locations, strategically positioned to accelerate North American commercial growth.

Ten Maersk ships ‘trapped’ in Persian Gulf. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran has effectively trapped 10 Maersk ships in the Persian Gulf, its chief executive said. In separate interviews with CNN and the Wall Street Journal, Vincent Clerc said the Danish carrier’s ships“cannot get out,” are“stuck in the Upper Gulf” and cannot leave the region.

Hutchison seeks $2B in damages from Panama after terminal deal canceled. Panama Ports Company is seeking more than $2B in damages in its international arbitration claim against Panama after the government canceled its long-held operating concession and seized control of the Balboa and Cristóbal marine terminals last month.

New Mexico DOT to invest $281M in rail over 4 years. The New Mexico Department of Transportation plans to invest $283.1M in freight- and passenger-rail service over the next four years, according to its recently finalized 2026 State Rail Plan.

Energy

U.S. drillers add oil and gas rigs for second week in a row, says Baker Hughes. U.S. energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for a second week in a row for the ​first time since early February, energy services firm Baker Hughes said ‌in its closely followed report. The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose by two to 553 in the week to March 13, its highest ​since November 2025.

Trump says he’ll tap Strategic Petroleum Reserve to cut energy costs. President Donald Trump said that he will tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help lower energy costs during the Iran war.

IEA will launch largest-ever oil release from global strategic reserves. The International Energy Agency said its member countries would release 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency stocks, the largest reserves distribution in history, in a bid to bring down crude prices that have soared during the war with Iran.

Brazil’s Raizen secures $12.6B out-of-court debt restructuring deal. Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Raizen said it had reached an out-of-court agreement with creditors and bondholders to restructure approximately $12.6B in debt obligations.

Trump to invoke emergency law for California oil producer Sable, Bloomberg News reports. U.S. President Donald Trump plans to invoke emergency law for ​Sable Offshore as it looks to restart ‌production from a cluster of offshore platforms in California, Bloomberg News reported.

Argentina’s TGS to invest $3B in natural gas liquids project. Argentine energy firm Transportadora ​de Gas del Sur said it will ‌invest $3B in a new natural gas liquids project in the Vaca Muerta shale formation.

Others

An exodus of money endangers Wall Street’s private-credit craze. The private-credit engine that powered massive growth on Wall Street is sputtering, with investors trying to pull money out of big funds, forcing firms into uncomfortable decisions and endangering their future profits.

Inflation holds steady, but Iran war threatens to boost prices. Annual inflation held steady last month. But what comes next, now that the U.S. is fighting a war in Iran, is the question on everyone’s mind. Consumer prices rose 2.4% in February from a year earlier, the Labor Department reported. That compared with 2.4% in January and was even with what economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected.

About RJM

RJM & Company is a specialized M&A and capital markets advisory investment bank. We provide boards and management teams of public and private companies with independent advice and expertise in a variety of sectors including road, rail and marine transportation, infrastructure, chemicals, energy, metals and mining, manufacturing, building materials, and other coverage areas of the industrial complex. RJM advises clients on all aspects of transactions including timing, structure, and pricing. RJM originates opportunities and helps negotiate and execute transactions already under evaluation.

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