Key transactions & industry newsWeekly Update 10/23/2026

What We Found Interesting This Week

Oct 19, 2026 – KKR (NYSE:KKR) agreed to sell Infinity Transportation, the Atlanta-based railcar and intermodal equipment lessor that owns and manages approximately 50,000 railcars leased to more than 350 customers across North America, to funds managed by Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) for an enterprise value of approximately $2.9B, with closing expected in the first quarter of 2027. (WSJ)


KKR’s sale of Infinity Transportation to Ares Infrastructure Equity and Ares Insurance Solutions funds at an enterprise value of approximately $2.9B moves one of the largest railcar lessors in the U.S. from one insurance-backed owner to another, with KKR’s wholly owned insurance subsidiary Global Atlantic having invested in the company since 2016. Founded in 2004 and based in Atlanta, Infinity owns and manages approximately 50,000 railcars leased to more than 350 customers across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, offering both net and full-service leases along with structured financing solutions for shippers. The value creation under KKR is the core of the exit story, as Infinity established a standalone operating platform beginning in 2021 and expanded its fleet with KKR’s support, growing book value by 150% over that period. The buyer structure is worth noting, with Ares pairing its infrastructure equity strategy with its insurance solutions platform, a combination suited to an asset class built on long-duration leased equipment and recurring lease income, and Ares has said it plans to support fleet growth, customer relationships, and additional acquisitions after closing. Ares framed the investment around reshoring, increased domestic industrial investment, and demand for more resilient supply chains, the same themes behind Stonepeak’s acquisition of BMO’s transportation finance business earlier this year and the broader flow of infrastructure capital into rail-adjacent assets. Macquarie Capital advised KKR and Citi advised Ares, with closing expected in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals.

Recent M&A Transactions

Metals & Mining

Oct 21, 2026 – Tide Rock, the San Diego-based growth platform for lower-middle-market B2B manufacturing, distribution, and services companies, acquired Electro-Spec, the specialty plating and surface finishing company with facilities in Franklin, Indiana and Lexington, South Carolina serving aerospace, defense, medical, nuclear, and battery customers, establishing a new specialty surface finishing platform alongside Tide Rock’s metal machining businesses. (PRNewswire)

Oct 19, 2026 – New Hope Corporation (ASX:NHC), the Australian coal producer, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the roughly 74% of Malabar Resources it does not already own in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.7B, giving New Hope full ownership of the Maxwell underground mine in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley and creating a combined group with a pro forma market cap of approximately $4.4B. (Mining Weekly)

Transportation & Logistics

Oct 21, 2026 – IFM Investors, the Australian pension-owned infrastructure investor, agreed to acquire a combined 63.9% controlling stake in Associated British Ports, the UK’s largest port operator with 19 facilities handling about a quarter of the country’s seaborne trade, from CPP Investments and OMERS in a deal reportedly valuing the company at approximately $13.4B, with closing expected in the first half of 2027. (CPP Investments)

Oct 21, 2026 – Stord, the Atlanta-based e-commerce fulfillment and logistics platform, acquired rival AMS Fulfillment, which handles online orders for more than 150 beauty, wellness, and direct-to-consumer brands across 10 warehouses in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and Philadelphia, in a nine-figure deal marking Stord’s largest acquisition to date. (FreightWaves)

Oct 19, 2026 – KKR (NYSE:KKR) agreed to sell Infinity Transportation, the Atlanta-based railcar and intermodal equipment lessor that owns and manages approximately 50,000 railcars leased to more than 350 customers across North America, to funds managed by Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) for an enterprise value of approximately $2.9B, with closing expected in the first quarter of 2027. (WSJ)

Building Products & Materials

Oct 16, 2026 – R.P. Lumber, the family-owned lumber and building materials dealer, acquired White Mountain Lumber, a Green River, Wyoming lumberyard serving the area since 1990, expanding R.P. Lumber’s presence across Wyoming and northeastern Utah. (LBM Journal)

Energy

Oct 20, 2026 – Gulf Keystone Petroleum (LSE:GKP, OSE:GKP) and ShaMaran Petroleum (OSE:SNM) agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction valuing ShaMaran at approximately $601M, a 23% premium, creating one of the largest independent oil producers in Iraq’s Kurdistan region with interests in the Shaikan, Atrush, Sarsang, and Hamrin fields and 323 million barrels of proved and probable reserves, with Gulf Keystone moving its primary listing to Oslo and completion targeted for mid-2027. (Reuters)

Oct 19, 2026 – ENAP Sipetrol, the international arm of Chile’s state oil company ENAP, agreed to acquire 100% of Pluspetrol Ecuador, which holds an interest in Block 10 in Ecuador’s Pastaza province, for a base price of $207M, lifting ENAP’s Ecuador production 26% to 34,000 barrels per day and its proved reserves from 50 million to 67 million barrels. (Rio Times)

Oct 19, 2026 – Saturn Oil & Gas (TSX:SOIL, OTCQX:OILSF), the Calgary-based light oil producer, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Corex Resources from Azimuth Energy Partners for approximately $218M in cash and stock, adding about 7,000 barrels per day of light oil production in southwest Manitoba adjacent to Saturn’s southeast Saskatchewan core area, at roughly 1.6x net operating income, with closing expected in December 2026. (Investing.com)

Others

Oct 22, 2026 – London Stock Exchange Group (LSE:LSEG) agreed to acquire Octus, the New York-based credit intelligence and data provider formerly known as Reorg, focused on private, illiquid, and distressed credit, from Permira, management, and founder Kent Collier for approximately $3.5B in cash, marking LSEG’s largest acquisition in seven years, with closing expected in the first half of 2027. (WSJ)

Oct 20, 2026 – Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Braze (Nasdaq:BRZE), the New York-based customer engagement platform serving about 2,770 customers including Canva, Instacart, and Venmo, for $47.50 per share in cash, an enterprise value of approximately $5.7B. (WSJ)

Top News Stories

Metals & Mining

Nippon’s U.S. Steel to invest nearly $3B in hot strip mill Near Pittsburgh. U.S. Steel plans to invest nearly $3B in a new hot strip mill at its plant near Pittsburgh. U.S. Steel, which is owned by Tokyo-based Nippon Steel, said the investment will replace aging equipment with modern steelmaking technology, increasing annual production capacity to about 3.5 million tons from 2.2 million tons.

EGA restarts 50% of Al Taweelah aluminum smelter, targets full production by Q1 2027. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has restarted 631 of the 1,262 reduction cells at its Al Taweelah aluminum smelter in the UAE, marking a major milestone in recovery efforts following an emergency shutdown on March 28 amid regional security developments that affected operations at Khalifa Economic Zone Abu Dhabi.

Mexico seeks U.S. tariff relief on aluminum, steel and vehicles before end of 2026. Mexico hopes to secure a favorable response from the United States to its request for lower tariffs on aluminum, steel and vehicles before the end of 2026, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said.

$2.6B Kurri Kurri Data Centre to transform former aluminum smelter site with 550.5 MW power demand. A proposed $2.6B data center at the former Hydro Aluminium Kurri Kurri industrial site in New South Wales, Australia, could repurpose a major industrial property for digital infrastructure, with an estimated peak construction workforce of 1,210 people and around 254 ongoing jobs.

Alcoa targets $1B in asset monetization as alumina supply tightens outside China. Alcoa is looking to unlock up to $1B from asset sales and other monetization efforts by 2030, with a proposed deal to sell part of its Massena East site in New York expected to generate as much as $315M. The plan comes as alumina supplies outside China tighten and global aluminum inventories remain historically low, potentially supporting the company’s market outlook.

Alcoa to sell Massena East site portion for up to $315 million as data center plans emerge. Alcoa plans to sell part of its idle Massena East industrial site in New York for up to $315 million, marking the first step in its broader effort to generate cash from underused assets by 2030.

Transportation & Logistics

Russian diesel tanker heads for U.S. following Trump-Putin deal. A tanker carrying 40,000 metric tons of Russian diesel is heading for New York under a new U.S.-Russia supply agreement, marking a reopening of a trade curtailed by Washington’s 2022 ban on Russian oil and petroleum imports.

World’s first ammonia-powered dry bulk ship completes sea trials. CMB.Tech’s Mineral Europa, described by its Belgian shipowner as the world’s first ammonia-powered dry bulk carrier, has completed sea trials, marking a step toward commercial deployment of the alternative fuel in large ocean-going cargo ships.

Matson christens 1st new vessel of $1B U.S. shipyard order. Matson christened the containership Makua at Hanwha Philly Shipyard, marking a milestone in its approximately $1B investment in three new vessels for its Hawaii and China–Long Beach Express services.

Energy

U.S. authorizes emergency release of up to 400,000 oil barrels from strategic reserve. The U.S. Department of Energy had authorized an emergency exchange ‌of up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to address a supply ​disruption affecting Phillips 66’s Lake Charles ​refinery in Louisiana.

Trump says wind turbine imports threaten national security. U.S. President Donald Trump declared ​imports of wind turbines and their components a threat ‌to national security, but stopped short of imposing new tariffs on the sector.

U.S. aims to loan about a third of heating oil reserve in bid to tame prices. The Trump administration ‌is offering to loan up to nearly a third of the 1-million-barrel U.S. emergency heating oil reserve, the Department of Energy said, in a bid to tame surging prices.

Kinder Morgan to invest $4.7B in two gas pipeline projects as demand surges. U.S. pipeline operator Kinder Morgan has approved a total of $4.7B as its share of ​investments in two major natural gas pipeline joint ventures, citing rising ‌demand from power plants, data centers and LNG exporters.

U.S. Energy Department to invest nearly $1B for new power grid upgrades. The U.S. ​Department of Energy said it would invest ​roughly $967M in ​additional funding to modernize ⁠critical energy ​infrastructure in a ​bid to lower surging electricity costs.

Others

Ten-Year treasury yield drops back below 5%. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note slipped below 5% in midday trading, marking a fairly quick return after climbing above that threshold in late September and nearly reaching 5.4% two weeks ago.

Jamie Dimon’s national-security pledge finances $230B in first year. JPMorgan Chase has financed $230B of projects through its $1.5T national-security initiative it announced last year, meant to ensure the largest U.S. bank is doing its part to protect the economy from supply-chain disruptions and threats from abroad.

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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