Key transactions & industry news Weekly Update

Recent M&A Transactions

Transportation & Logistics

Aug 6, 2024 – Diverse Logistics Holdings, a third-party logistics firm specializing in the delivery and installation of big-and-bulky items such as mattresses and furniture, acquired TCA Logistics Corp(FurnitureToday)

Aug 6, 2024 – Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE: APO) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 50% interest in a joint venture entity related to the Vale Oman Distribution Center from Vale S.A. (BOVESPA:VALE3) for $600 million. (Apollo Global Management)

Aug 5, 2024 – Barnhart Crane & Rigging acquired Mountain States Crane. This acquisition marks Barnhart’s fifth acquisition in 2024 and its first in New Mexico. (Barnhart)

Jul 31, 2024 – FST Logistics completed its acquisition of Dancer Logistics, a prominent warehousing and transportation company based in Delphos, Ohio. This strategic move marks a significant milestone in FST Logistics’ growth strategy and strengthens its position in the logistics industry. (FST Logistics)

Building Products & Materials

Aug 6, 2024 – Right Way Garage Doors completed its acquisition of Aaron Overhead Doors, a leading family-owned and operated residential garage door service company based in Monterey, California. (PR Newswire)

Aug 6, 2024 – Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE: MLI) acquired Elkhart Products Corporation, a U.S. manufacturer of copper solder fittings, with two manufacturing locations in Elkhart, Indiana and Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Mueller Industries)

Aug 2, 2024 – Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ: BECN), the leading publicly-traded wholesale distributor specializing in roofing, waterproofing and related exterior products, completed its acquisition of SSR Roof Supply Ltd(Beacon Roofing)

Aug 2, 2024 – Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ: BECN) completed its acquisition of Passaic Metal and Building Supplies Co(Beacon Roofing)

Aug 1, 2024 – Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE: GVA) has signed an agreement to acquire Dickerson & Bowen, Inc(Granite Construction)

Metals & Mining

Aug 8, 2024 – Wynnchurch Capital, L.P. acquired ORS Nasco from One Equity Partners. ORS Nasco has a broad product portfolio with over 190,000 SKUs across safety, hand tools, chemicals, welding, abrasives, adhesives and other MRO product categories. (Wynnchurch)

Aug 2, 2024 – Ryerson Holding Corporation (NYSE: RYI), a leading value-added processor and distributor of industrial metals, completed its acquisition of Production Metals, LLC, which is a distributor of aluminum, stainless and specialty steels. (PR Newswire)

Aug 1, 2024 – Alcoa Corporation (NYSE: AA) completed its acquisition of Alumina Limited. This strategic move positions Alcoa to further strengthen its market leadership as a pure play, upstream aluminum company. (Alcoa Corporation)

Energy

Aug 6, 2024 – Aramco (SASE: 2222) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire an additional stake of ~22.5% in Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co., the refining and petrochemical complex located on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s west coast, from Sumitomo Chemical (TSE: 4005) for $702 million. (Aramco)

Aug 6, 2024 – H2O Midstream, LLC and EIV Capital, LLC have finalized agreements to sell H2O Midstream to Delek Logistics Partners, LP (NYSE: DKL). H2O Midstream provides gathering, transportation, recycling, storage and disposal solutions for produced water in Howard County, Texas. (Business Wire)

Aug 6, 2024 – Drilling Tools International Corp. (NASDAQ: DTI), a global oilfield services company that designs, engineers, manufactures and provides a differentiated, rental-focused offering of tools for use in onshore and offshore drilling operations, completed its acquisition of Superior Drilling Products, Inc. (ASE: SDPI) for ~$32.2 million. (PR Newswire)

Aug 1, 2024 – Trafigura Group Pte Ltd completed its acquisition of the European and Canadian supply businesses from Greenergy, a subsidiary of Brookfield Corporation (NYSE: BN)(Trafigura)

Others

Aug 6, 2024 – Körber Supply Chain Software, a joint venture between Körber AG and KKR (NYSE: KKR), and leader in end-to-end supply chain software solutions, signed a binding agreement to acquire MercuryGate International Inc., a leading provider of transportation management systems (TMS). (Körber)

Top News Stories

Transportation & Logistics

Record heat in 2024 is making the tough job of trucking tougher. Hauling large amounts of cargo is hard enough during the summer, and this year’s record temperatures and natural disasters aren’t making it easier for truckers. In fact, extreme weather has forced more truckers into dangerous driving situations. This has had a knock-on effect by delaying consumer shipments.

J.B. Hunt partnership with Kodiak reaches 50,000-mile milestone. J.B. Hunt completed 50,000 autonomous long-haul trucking miles in a collaboration with autonomous trucking company Kodiak Robotics and Bridgestone Americas. The Kodiak autonomous trucks ship Bridgestone car tires between South Carolina and Dallas and have reported no accidents and 100% on-time pickup and delivery since launching in January.

GXO Logistics sees upward trend in global freight market. GXO showed a strong performance in the second quarter, with revenue surging 19% year over year to $2.8 billion. Adjusted quarterly earnings per share was 55 cents, compared with 70 cents for the first quarter in 2023. The Company is on track to sign a record amount of new business in 2024 and believes the freight market is on an upward trend.

Views on transportation capacity, pricing signaling recovery. The Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI), displayed a 50.9 reading for transportation capacity in the month. That was less than 1%higher than in June and just barely into expansion territory. The LMI is a diffusion index in which a reading above 50 indicates expansion while one below 50 signals contraction. The reading for transportation pricing was 12.9 points higher than the capacity reading, the largest gap since April 2022. This was the third straight month sentiment around pricing was ahead of capacity.

Metals & Mining

LME aluminum benchmark price moves up by US$2/t; SHFE price adds US$3/t. On August 8, LME aluminum opened at $2,272 per tonne, hit a high of $2,285 per tonne and a low of $2,256 per tonne, and closed at $2,284 per tonne, up $11 per tonne, or 0.48%.

QAMCO reports QR237 million net profit in H1 2024 on the back of stabilized aluminum market. After a volatile 2023 and early 2024, the aluminum market began stabilizing in the second quarter of 2024. QAMCO’s net profit for H1 2024 was QR237 million, slightly down from QR240 million in H1 2023. The EPS also saw a marginal decline from QR0.043 in H1 2023 to QR0.042 in H1 2024. The company’s share of joint venture revenue reached QR1.5 billion in H1 2024, compared to QR1.6 billion during the same period last year. Despite these declines, the EBITDA margin remained robust at 33%, up from 31 per cent in H1 2023.

US aluminum scrap exports see Y-o-Y growth from Jan to May 2024, driven by shifts in Thailand’s consumption patterns. From January to May 2024, the United States exported 867,000 tonnes versus 858,000 tonnes a year ago, showing an annual growth of 9,000 tonnes or 1.1%. In May, aluminum scraps export volume from the United States amounted to 192,000 tonnes, reflecting an increase of 12,000 tonnes or 6.7% from 180,000 tonnes in April 2024. The annual growth in the United States aluminium scrap exports was primarily driven by the market shift towards Thailand. India remained the highest aluminium scrap export destination for the United States but with a lesser volume.

Vedanta Ltd posts a 37% rise in net profit for Q1 FY2025, contributed by aluminum business. In Q1 FY2024-25, Vedanta generated a consolidated net profit of INR 3,606 crore, an increase of 36.59% from INR 2,640 crore a year ago. The company’s revenue from operations rose 5.6% Y-o-Y to INR 35,239 crore against INR 33,342 crore. EBITDA also grew 47% Y-o-Y on account of structural cost-saving initiatives across businesses, easing of input commodity inflation and favorable output commodity prices. The surge in Vedanta’s Q1 earnings was primarily contributed by core earnings from the aluminum business, as the latter soared by 144%.

Energy

Global oil demand needs to rise faster to absorb OPEC+ hike. Global oil demand growth needs to accelerate in coming months or the market will struggle to absorb an increase in oil supply that OPEC+ is planning to make from October. If the economy slows further, oil demand growth will likely slow with it. That will mean OPEC+ would either have to delay plans to pump more oil or accept lower prices for higher supply.

Others

Mortgage rates drop to 15-month low. Mortgage rates fell to the lowest level in more than a year, raising hopes for relief in the battered U.S. housing market. Home sales last year fell to their lowest level in nearly three decades, and they have been similarly sluggish in 2024. Inventory of homes for sale has been rising but it remains well below historic averages, which could keep a damper on sales activity unless supply picks up.

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.