Key transactions & industry news Weekly Update 10/04/2024
Recent M&A Transactions
Metals & Mining
Oct 4, 2024 – Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) completed its acquisition of an 11.7% interest in Boyne Smelters Ltd from Mitsubishi Corporation (TSE: 8058). Boyne is located at Central Queensland and is Australia’s second-largest aluminum smelter. This transaction takes Rio Tinto’s ownership of Boyne to 71.0%. (Yahoo Finance)
Oct 4, 2024 – Coeur Mining, Inc. (NYSE: CDE) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire SilverCrest Metals Inc. (NYSE: SILV). (Coeur Mining)
Oct 1, 2024 – QC Copper and Gold Inc. (TSXV: QCCU) has signed a binding share purchase agreement to acquire Cuprum Corp, whose Thierry Copper Project spans 4,670 hectares across 27 mineral leases. (QC Copper)
Transportation & Logistics
Oct 2, 2024 – Radiant Logistics, Inc. (NYSE: RLGT) acquired the MI-based Focus Logistics, which provides both domestic and international freight forwarding services in support of the marine, aerospace, brand management and trade show industries. (PR Newswire)
Oct 2, 2024 – The supervisory board of Germany’s Deutsche Bahn AG approved the sale of its logistics division DB Schenker to Danish logistics group DSV (CPSE: DSV). The combined companies will have $43.5 billion in revenue, ranking ahead of current leading global forwarder Kuehne+Nagel of Switzerland, at $28.1 billion. (Yahoo Finance)
Oct 1, 2024 – Universal Logistics (NASDAQ: ULH) acquired the Cincinnati-based rail terminal operator Parsec for $193.6 million. Parsec has generated $230.2 million in revenue for the 12-month period ended August 2024. (FreightWaves)
Sep 30, 2024 – Leading third-party logistics (3PL) provider LYNX Logistics acquired River Horse Logistics. This acquisition is an excellent strategic fit that allows LYNX to expand its services into new geographic regions, offering clients an expansive, nationwide logistics network. (Business Wire)
Building Products & Materials
Oct 1, 2024 – Arcosa, Inc. (NYSE: ACA), a provider of infrastructure-related products and solutions, completed its acquisition of the construction materials business of Stavola Holding Corporation for $1.2 billion. (Arcosa)
Oct 1, 2024 – ClarkDietrich, North America’s largest manufacturer of cold-formed steel framing products, has acquired Studs Unlimited, a manufacturer of light-gauge steel framing products specializing in galvanized light-gauge steel framing for the residential and commercial construction industries. (Yahoo Finance)
Sep 30, 2024 – KPS Capital Partners, LP has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Catalyst Acoustics Group, Inc., a portfolio company of The Stephens Group, LLC and a leading independent designer and manufacturer of engineered acoustic solutions. (KPS Capital Partners)
Energy
Oct 1, 2024 – Summit Midstream Corporation (NYSE: SMC) will acquire Tall Oak Midstream Operating, LLC for ~$450 million. (PR Newswire)
Sep 30, 2024 – Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) completed its acquisition of the liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment business from Air Products for $1.81 billion in an all-cash transaction. (Honeywell)
Sep 27, 2024 – Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) completed its acquisition of Grayson Mill Energy for $5 billion. (Devon Energy)
Others
Oct 1, 2024 – BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) completed its acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners. (BlackRock)
Top News Stories
Metals & Mining
Hydro invests NOK 1 billion in two sustainable projects: A new extrusion press and recycling capacity expansion. Hydro introduces a 12-inch indirect extrusion press, invalidating two older presses in Cressona, Pennsylvania, where the capacity of the recycling facility has also been expanded to an additional 50,000 tonnes.
Vedanta reports the highest-ever quarterly and half-yearly aluminum production for FY2025. In H1 FY2025, Vedanta’s aluminum production totalled 1.2 million tonnes, following an output of 609,000 tonnes in Q2, up by 2.18% from 596,000 tonnes in Q1 FY2025. Year-on-year, Vedanta’s aluminum production in Q2 FY2025 experienced an increase of 2.53% from 594,000 tonnes.
US includes aluminium solar racking rails into final anti-dumping duty determinations. The U.S. Department of Commerce has named fourteen countries that have sold, dumped, and subsidised aluminum extrusions into the United States, violating international trade rules. Those countries include China, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, and the United Arab Emirates. For violating trade rules, all the countries above have faced anti-dumping duties at rates ranging from 2.0% to 376.9% and countervailing duties at rates ranging from 1.4% to 168.8%.
Alro launches a new facility to advance precision cutting for complex aluminium products. Alro Slatina, one of the biggest aluminium companies in Romania and Europe, has commissioned a new cutting-edge aluminium processing facility, Cutsmart Systems, which has fed on an investment of ~$3 million. The new facility, equipped with advanced, cutting-edge technologies, will boost the efficiency of Alro’s unique precision cutting technique to meet more complex design specifications of aluminium products from end-user sectors like aerospace, automotive, and electronics.
Transportation & Logistics
STG Logistics closes on $300M growth-oriented financing package. The new debt and equity financing package will provide the company with significant capital to fuel its ongoing expansion and strategic growth initiatives. STG’s private equity sponsors, Wind Point Partners, Duration Capital Partners and Oaktree Capital Management, backed the new financing deal along with lenders.
Jobs report: Downward trend continues in trucking; warehouses see huge drop. Truck transportation jobs in September totaled 1,543,600, down 700 from a revised August figure of 1,544,300. The August figure was revised upward by 800 jobs from what was originally reported. The decline from August to September combined with a small upward revision to the July number means that September’s truck transportation jobs were 1,400 fewer than July’s.
1 million TEUs could soon be stalled outside strike ports. East Coast container ports are shut down by a strike by International Longshoremen’s Association workers, but that hasn’t stopped the parade of inbound ships from queuing up outside those maritime hubs. There are over 400,000 twenty foot-equivalent units (TEUs) being carried on the queued vessels outside the affected East and Gulf Coast ports, a 170% jump from the day before the strike began. Given this trajectory, if the strike lasts even one week, the number of waiting container vessels could easily exceed 100 with the number of halted TEUs surpassing 1 million.
How the logistics industry is providing relief after Hurricane Helene. FedEx is supporting multiple nonprofits that are helping communities affected by the hurricane by providing a truck to pick up 75 generators in western North Carolina, delivering 21,000 hygiene kits to affected areas, and transporting two truckloads of kennels for animals in North Carolina. XPO Inc. is helping those affected in Georgia by donating equipment to load and transport supplies. Atlas Van Lines donated $10,000 to the American Red Cross.
Energy
Oil settles up, biggest weekly gains in over a year on Middle East war risk. Oil prices rose on October 4 and settled with their biggest weekly gains in over a year on the mounting threat of a region-wide war in the Middle East, though gains were limited as U.S. President Joe Biden discouraged Israel from targeting Iranian oil facilities. Brent crude futures rose 43 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $78.05 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 67 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $74.38 per barrel.
Others
U.S. hiring accelerated in September, blowing past expectations. Employers added 254,000 jobs in September, which was significantly more than the 150,000 economists expected, and marked the largest monthly increase since March 2024. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.1%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said earlier this week that officials would continue to reduce interest rates from a two-decade high to maintain solid economic growth, but that they didn’t see a reason to lower rates as aggressively as they did at their most recent meeting.
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.