Key transactions & industry news Weekly Update 08/30/2024
Recent M&A Transactions
Transportation & Logistics
Aug 29, 2024 – Startup Jack Cooper LTL is in talks to acquire less-than-truckload carrier Standard Forwarding. East Moline-based Standard Forwarding is a regional LTL carrier with 14 terminals throughout Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota. The 90-year-old company has 350 tractors and 800 trailers. It was acquired by DHL Freight in 2011. (FreightWaves)
Aug 27, 2024 – Dialog Group is selling its entire stake in its Saudi Arabian joint venture, Dialog Jubail Supply Base, for 47.5 million Saudi riyals to its JV partner. The group has entered into an agreement with Sedres Trading & Maritime Services to sell the 60% stake in DJSB. (TheEdge)
Aug 26, 2024 – GHK Capital Partners, a leading middle-market private equity firm, announced that it completed the acquisition of Horizon Group. Horizon is a leading global provider of specialized international freight forwarding focused on time-critical marine spare parts logistics. Operating out of over 30 locations across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, Horizon offers services spanning multimodal logistics for marine spares, supplies, and equipment and port agency solutions. (AccessWire)
Aug 26, 2024 – Langdons announces the acquisition of the transport and logistics company Long Lane Deliveries in Scotland. This transaction is part of STEF Group’s growth strategy as a European pure player in the food supply chain. It strengthens the Group’s territorial coverage and its service offering to food manufacturers, retailers, and out-of-home foodservice. (STEF)
Building Products & Materials
Aug 29, 2024 – Savannah Clinker, has placed a counteroffer bid to acquire up to 100% of the shares in Bamburi Cement. Savannah Clinker is placing $190.3mn counteroffer bid with a Ksh 1.8bn sweetener for all shareholders, the counteroffer now outpaces the $180 million (Kshs 23bn) offer recently placed by a Tanzanian conglomerate, Amsons Group. SCL has effectively challenged Amsons position that its transaction with Holcim was irrevocable. (AggregatesBusiness)
Aug 28, 2024 – Lake Street Capital Partners, an affiliate of Lake Street Private Wealth and subsidiary of Lake Street Capital Management completed its partnership in Concrete Science Holdings as well as Concrete Science’s acquisition of MD Concrete. (PRNewswire)
Metals & Mining
Aug 29, 2024 – Tata Steel Limited has acquired additional 1.78 billion equity shares in its Singapore based subsidiary T Steel Holdings Limited worth $280 million. The strategic stake purchase is part of Tata Steel’s efforts to enhance its global presence and operational efficiency. (SteelOrbis)
Aug 27, 2024 – Australian miner CuFe Limited has announced the sale of the iron ore rights of the JWD iron ore mine in Western Australia to Newcam Minerals Pty Ltd. for A$12 million. The alternative was suspending the mine which would create an extra cost. (SteelOrbis)
Energy
Aug 28, 2024 – ONEOK, Inc. announced that it has executed a definitive agreement with Global Infrastructure Partners under which ONEOK will acquire GIP’s entire interest in EnLink Midstream, LLC , consisting of 43% of EnLink’s outstanding common units for $14.90 per unit and 100% of the interests in the managing member for $300 million, for total cash consideration of approximately $3.3 billion. (PRNewswire)
Aug 28, 2024 – ONEOK and GIP also entered into a separate definitive agreement under which ONEOK will acquire from GIP all of the equity interests in Medallion Midstream, LLC, the largest privately held crude gathering and transportation system in the Permian’s Midland Basin, for $2.6 billion in cash. (PRNewswire)
Aug 22, 2024 – Siam City Cement Public Company Limited and Sunrise Equity Company Limited proposed to acquire an additional 55.01% stake in Lanna Resources Public Company Limited from Thai NVDR Co., Ltd., UBS AG, London Branch and other shareholders for THB 4.8 billion (MarketScreener)
Others
Aug 19, 2024 – AMD announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire ZT Systems, a leading provider of AI infrastructure for the world’s largest hyperscale computing companies. The strategic transaction marks the next major step in AMD’s AI strategy to deliver leadership AI training and inferencing solutions based on innovating across silicon, software and systems. ZT Systems’ extensive experience designing and optimizing cloud computing solutions will also help cloud and enterprise customers significantly accelerate the deployment of AMD-powered AI infrastructure at scale. (AMD)
Top News Stories
Transportation & Logistics
FMCSA told to strengthen ELD requirements. Safety investigators have warned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to tighten electronic logging device (ELD) requirements to prevent trucking companies and their drivers from creating fake driver hours-of-service (HOS) logs. The recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board was included in a crash report issued on Wednesday concluding that truck driver fatigue, due to excessive driving time and limited opportunity to sleep, was the probable cause of a December 2022 crash on I-64 in Virginia in which the truck driver rammed the back of medium-size bus, killing three people.
Norfolk Southern and BNSF reach tentative agreements with additional labor unions. Norfolk Southern and BNSF Railway have reached tentative five-year contract agreements with additional unions four months before the opening round of national collective bargaining. The Norfolk Southern agreements with five unions, coming on the heels of four tentative agreements announced last week, cover approximately 55% of the railroad’s unionized workforce.
Extreme weather blocks vessel traffic around South Africa. Severe storm conditions off the coast of South Africa have temporarily halted vessel movements. The rough seas are exacerbating supply chain delays caused by diversions around the Red Sea to avoid Houthi rebel attacks on commercial shipping, according to logistics companies and commodity analysts. Denmark-based Scan Global Logistics alerted customers on Wednesday that extreme weather conditions around the Cape of Good Hope have forced container lines to seek shelter from high winds and waves over 33 feet high.
Building Products & Materials
Fire destroys Maine sawmill. Investigators are trying to pin a cause on the blaze that destroyed the Record Lumber sawmill in Oxford, ME. The 14,000-sq. ft. mill building was deemed a total loss, with damages of nearly $2.5 million. Also engulfed were the milling machinery and several forklifts. The blaze started about 11:24 p.m. on Aug. 23. Eleven area fire departments responded. There were no injuries or damage to neighboring properties. While the cause is yet undetermined, it is not considered suspicious.
CarbiCrete partners with Canal Block to bring cement-free concrete to Ontario. CarbiCrete, a leading firm in the decarbonisation of concrete has announced that NGen – Canada’s Global Innovation Cluster for Advanced Manufacturing – will provide funding for the integration of CarbiCrete’s cement-free concrete technology into a masonry plant in Port Colborne, Ontario that is owned and operated by project partner Canal Block.
Asian cement and steel companies will not survive rising carbon prices. Asian carbon emitting companies will see consistent negative margins in the next decade if they do not decarbonize, a new report from Imperial College Business School has concluded. The report, Financial Implications of Carbon Pricing in the Asian Cement and Steel Industries, has been published by the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment at Imperial College Business School, alongside the Singapore Green Finance Centre.
Metals & Mining
Indian Government mandates 5% recycled content in non-ferrous metal products, including aluminium. A significant step has been taken towards the non-ferrous metals industry by the Government of India by mandating the 5 per cent content of recycled aluminium in all new products from the beginning of the financial year 2027-28. The mandate is for non-ferrous metals like aluminium, copper, and zinc.
South32 boosts aluminium & manganese production in South Africa despite market challenges. South32 anticipates a 12 per cent increase in unit operating costs for its South African manganese operations, driven by higher price-linked royalties and inland logistics expenses. Meanwhile, the company’s Hillside operation in South Africa boosted its saleable aluminium production by 1,000 tonnes to 720,000 tonnes during the year under review, despite challenges from load shedding, particularly earlier in the year. South32 expects to maintain production levels at Hillside, the largest aluminium smelter in the Southern Hemisphere, throughout 2025 and 2026.
Energy
Shell to cut hundreds of jobs in oil and gas exploration operations. Shell is to cut hundreds of jobs from its oil and gas exploration operation in the latest move by the chief executive, Wael Sawan, to slash up to $3bn (£2.3bn) in costs by the end of next year. The energy company is to cut about a fifth of its workforce in two subdivisions of its oil and gas business responsible for exploration strategy and developing its oil and gas finds.
U.S. crude oil rebounds nearly 2% on major supply disruption in Libya and Iraq output cut. U.S. crude oil futures rose nearly 2% on Thursday, rebounding after a two-day losing streak as Libya confirmed major disruptions in its oil output. Production in Libya has fallen by 1.5 million barrels over the past three days for a total loss of $120 million, according to the OPEC member’s National Oil Corporation.
Others
U.S. home prices forecast to rise modestly as Fed cuts rates. U.S. home prices will rise relatively modestly this year and next despite tight supply and expected U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, according to housing analysts polled by Reuters who said purchasing affordability will improve but would remain strained.
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.