Key transactions & industry newsWeekly Update 07/31/2026

What We Found Interesting This Week

NextEra, Brookfield Plan $100B Data Center at U.S. Uranium Site in Kentucky


NextEra and Brookfield’s proposed $100B Paducah campus demonstrates that power availability, not capital or demand, is becoming the primary constraint on U.S. data center development. The project pairs more than 1.2 GW of computing capacity with up to 2 GW of natural gas generation and 2.6 GW of battery storage, allowing new supply to be added as the campus ramps rather than relying on an already-constrained regional grid. The former uranium enrichment site is strategically valuable because it already has industrial-scale transmission, water, fiber, roads, and developable federal land, materially reducing the infrastructure and permitting barriers that delay many greenfield projects. The structure also reflects growing political pressure for data centers to bring and pay for their own power rather than passing generation and transmission costs to households and other businesses. For Brookfield, the campus creates a large-scale platform across digital infrastructure, power, and real assets, while NextEra gains a long-term pathway to deploy generation, storage, and transmission capital against a concentrated source of load growth. More broadly, the project shows that successful data center campuses are becoming integrated energy and infrastructure developments, with firms that can control land, power, and financing positioned to capture a greater share of AI investment.

Recent M&A Transactions

Metals & Mining

July 27, 2026 – TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE:TDG) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Prince & Izant, the Cleveland, Ohio-based designer and manufacturer of highly engineered brazing alloys and specialty metal components serving aerospace and defense, aeroderivative turbine, and transportation end markets, from Industrial Growth Partners for approximately $1.07B in cash. (PRNewswire)

July 27, 2026 – Wynnchurch Capital, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Luxfer Holdings PLC (NYSE:LXFR), the global manufacturer of highly engineered advanced materials and components serving aerospace, defense, and other mission-critical end markets through its Elektron and Gas Cylinders segments, for $463M. (WSJ)

Transportation & Logistics

July 29, 2026 – Antin Infrastructure Partners, through its Flagship Fund III, agreed to sell a 30% minority stake in Sølvtrans, the Ålesund, Norway-based world’s largest wellboat operator serving the aquaculture industry with a fleet of 48 vessels across Norway, Scotland, Canada, Iceland, and New Zealand, to UK pension-backed investment fund GLIL Infrastructure, with Antin maintaining its majority holding alongside founder Roger Halsebakk. (BusinessWire)

July 24, 2026 – Irish Continental Group plc, the Dublin-based maritime transport group and owner of Irish Ferries operating passenger, car, and freight services between Ireland, Britain, and Continental Europe, agreed to a buyout by Bluefin Bidco Limited, a vehicle owned by CEO Eamonn Rothwell and three other senior executives, valuing the company at approximately $1.4B. (GlobeNewswire)

Building Products & Materials

July 30, 2026 – Big C Lumber, the Indiana-based lumber and building materials dealer, acquired Priebe’s Creative Woodworking, the Benton Harbor, Michigan-based custom cabinetry company founded in 1995 specializing in custom cabinetry, architectural woodworking, and refined home interiors throughout Southwest Michigan. (LBM Journal)

July 28, 2026 – Royalty Roofing, the Seymour, Indiana-based national commercial, industrial, institutional, and residential roofing services platform and portfolio company of Six Pillars Partners, acquired Rodd Roofing, the St. Johnsbury, Vermont-based fourth-generation roofing contractor founded in the early 1900s serving Vermont and New Hampshire across slate, standing seam metal, copper, wood shingle, and single-ply membrane systems. (Roofing Contractor)

Energy

July 30, 2026 – Blackstone (NYSE:BX), through funds managed by Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire DarkVision Technologies Inc., the North Vancouver, British Columbia-based leader in advanced ultrasound imaging technologies used for the inspection of critical energy and industrial infrastructure, from Koch Engineered Solutions, a unit of Koch, Inc. (Blackstone)

July 29, 2026 – Xylem Inc. (NYSE:XYL), the leading global water technology company, signed a definitive agreement to acquire WaterFleet, LLC, the San Antonio, Texas-based provider of mobile water and wastewater utility services and workforce relief solutions for remote, temporary, and infrastructure-critical sites, from investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital for approximately $200M, with closing expected later this quarter. (BusinessWire)

July 27, 2026 – Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE), the largest natural gas producer in North America, entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Twin Eagle Holdings, N.A., LLC, from Five Point Infrastructure for $1.25B, creating a combined platform marketing approximately 14 Bcf/d and closing expected in Q3 2026. (GlobeNewswire)

July 27, 2026 – Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, the private infrastructure investment platform of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, agreed to acquire Epic Energy, the Adelaide-based Australian gas pipeline operator that owns the Moomba to Adelaide Pipeline System (MAPS), one of only two pipeline systems serving Adelaide with a 50-plus-year operating history, from QIC in a transaction valued at approximately $650M, with closing expected in H2 2026. (Morgan Stanley)

Others

July 30, 2026 – Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE), the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, agreed to acquire electronic bond-trading platform MarketAxess Holdings (Nasdaq:MKTX) for $167 per share in cash, and an equity value of approximately $6.0B, unifying the fixed income trading lifecycle onto one platform. (WSJ)

July 29, 2026 – Grant Thornton Advisors, backed by New Mountain Capital, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CBIZ, Inc. (NYSE:CBZ), the Cleveland-based professional services provider, for $55.00 per share in cash, an equity value of approximately $3.0B, creating the fifth largest professional services, tax, and advisory provider in the US. (WSJ)

Top News Stories

Metals & Mining

Rio Tinto’s Bell Bay aluminum smelter misses green credit despite clean power. Rio Tinto-operated Bell Bay Aluminium, Australia’s only predominantly renewable-powered, green aluminum smelter, has been left out of the Federal Government’s $1.39B Green Aluminium Production Credit scheme.

Metlen lands landmark U.S. gallium supply deal as Europe builds alternative critical minerals chain. Europe’s efforts to build an alternative supply chain for critical raw materials have taken another step forward after Metlen signed a landmark long-term agreement to supply a leading U.S. technology company with approximately 25 per cent of the annual gallium output from its planned production facility in Greece.

Century Aluminum expansion lifts U.S. primary aluminum output by 10% as top officials mark Mt Holly milestone. Century Aluminum has brought its Mt Holly aluminum smelter in South Carolina back to full capacity through an expansion expected to increase the country’s primary aluminum production by approximately 10 per cent. According to the US Department of Commerce, Century Aluminum invested $50M in the project.

Mozal aluminium shutdown cuts 30% of South32 output, triggers $117M charge. South32 has recognized exceptional costs of $117M after the closure of its Mozal aluminium smelter in Mozambique, as an unresolved power deal impasse with the Mozambican government keeps operations stalled.

Transportation & Logistics

Canada invests $1.4B in passenger locomotive manufacturing. The Government of Canada is investing $1.4B to renew VIA Rail’s long-distance, regional and remote locomotive fleet while bringing passenger locomotive assembly back to the country for the first time in decades.

CMA CGM in new terminal venture with private equity firm. The world’s third-largest liner operator is taking a major leap toward becoming a major player in the ports business. French liner CMA CGM and private equity investor Stonepeak of New York today announced the formation of United Ports LLC, a joint venture aimed at expanding the former’s global network of marine terminals.

Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern add new customer protections as STB merger review advances. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are trying to strengthen their case for creating America’s first transcontinental railroad, adding what they describe as an unprecedented set of customer assurances as the Surface Transportation Board reviews their merger application.

Shippers face tighter capacity as trucking rates hold near record highs. Truck capacity is shrinking just as shippers most need room to grow. ACT Research’s June For-Hire Trucking Index shows freight rates holding near record territory while capacity keeps tightening, as Class 8 tractor sales continue running below replacement levels and new federal driver rules squeeze the labor pool.

Energy

BP puts UK North Sea oil and gas assets up for sale as CEO pushes overhaul. BP wants to ​sell its British oil and gas fields in the North Sea which could fetch more than $2B, according to estimates, as new Chief Executive Officer Meg O’Neill ‌accelerates a sweeping portfolio overhaul aimed at improving profitability.

U.S.-Saudi consortium advances plans for $5B Gulf refinery. The MERA Oil consortium of U.S. and Saudi Arabian companies is advancing plans for a $5B integrated refinery and export corridor in the ‌Gulf aimed at boosting regional energy infrastructure.

NextEra, Brookfield plan $100B data center at U.S. uranium site in Kentucky. NextEra ​Energy and Brookfield plan to develop a $100B data center campus and power plant ‌at a federally owned former uranium enrichment site in Kentucky.

India’s biggest power producer NTPC plans to invest $178B through 2037. India’s top power producer, NTPC plans to invest about $177.6B ​through fiscal 2037, aiming to nearly double its generation ‌portfolio by 2032 en route to almost tripling it by 2037.

CMS Energy exits renewables development as 2027 forecast disappoints. CMS Energy ​said it would exit non-utility renewables ‌development following changes at NorthStar Clean Energy and forecast 2027 adjusted earnings below Wall Street estimates, as the utility focuses on ​its regulated business and investments to meet ​growing electricity demand.

Others

Fed holds rates steady but three officials vote for increase. Federal Reserve officials held interest rates steady over the objections of three bank presidents who wanted an increase, underscoring how pressure is building inside the central bank to act on inflation that has run above its target for five years.

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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