Key transactions & industry newsWeekly Update 07/17/2026

What We Found Interesting This Week

DP World Plans UAE Port, Container Terminal to Bypass Strait of Hormuz


DP World’s plan to develop a new multipurpose port and container terminal near Fujairah on the UAE’s east coast is the most significant infrastructure response yet to the Hormuz disruption, and the numbers explain the urgency, with container traffic at Jebel Ali having collapsed 90 to 95% during the height of the conflict, from roughly 40,000 containers a day to around 1,000. Fujairah sits on the Gulf of Oman roughly 70 nautical miles south of the strait, meaning vessels can call there without ever entering the blocked waterway, with containers then trucked overland roughly 160 kilometers to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and the wider Gulf. The scale gap is the important caveat, as Jebel Ali handled 15.6 million TEUs in 2025 while Fujairah’s current throughput capacity sits around 720,000 TEUs annually, so this is a resilience hedge rather than a replacement, a permanent bypass option that can absorb cargo during future disruptions rather than a substitute for the Gulf’s busiest container gateway. The reported 18-month completion timeline for initial capacity is aggressive for port infrastructure and reflects how seriously the UAE is treating the exposure, with the project sitting inside a broader national push toward what the country’s trade minister has framed as zero Hormuz dependency, including an accelerated West-East oil pipeline to Fujairah targeting 2027. The parallel with what EGA and Alba have already done in aluminum is direct, with Gulf trade infrastructure being rebuilt around the assumption that the strait is no longer a reliable artery, and once that capital is deployed, the routing changes tend to outlast the crisis that prompted them.

Recent M&A Transactions

Metals & Mining

July 15, 2026 – Thrust Capital Partners, the Canadian private equity firm dedicated exclusively to the aerospace and defense supply chain, acquired Alphacasting Inc., the Montreal, Quebec-based precision titanium and aluminum investment casting company serving aerospace and defense customers across more than 120 alloys. (PRNewswire)

July 15, 2026 – ADC Aerospace, the Buena Park, California-based manufacturer of complex, highly engineered turnkey die-cast parts for aerospace and defense customers and a portfolio company of GreyLion Partners LP, acquired Hyatt Die Cast & Engineering Corporation, a leading manufacturer of aluminum and zinc die castings, uniting the two largest aerospace and defense-focused turnkey die-casting businesses under a single platform in Buena Park. (BusinessWire)

July 13, 2026 – AE Industrial Partners, LP, the Boca Raton-based private investment firm with approximately $9.0B AUM focused on aerospace and national and economic security, acquired Powder Alloy Corporation, the Loveland, Ohio-based producer of highly engineered metallic, ceramic, and thermal spray powders serving aerospace, gas turbine, biomedical, power and energy, and industrial end markets, establishing AE Industrial’s newest specialty materials platform. (BusinessWire)

Transportation & Logistics

July 14, 2026 – Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC), the Coconut Creek, Florida-based leading lessor of commercial aircraft engines and global provider of aviation services, signed a definitive agreement to acquire a portfolio of 12 commercial aircraft and 13 aircraft engines. (GlobeNewswire)

July 14, 2026 – Railmark Holdings, Inc., the Henderson, Kentucky-based rail infrastructure, maintenance, and transportation services company operating short-line railroads and rail service businesses, acquired Katahdin Railcar Services LLC, the Derby, Maine-based AAR M-1002 and M-1003 certified railcar and tank car repair company serving the New England region and the CPKC line and home to North America’s only robotic tank car cleaning system, bringing Railmark to 13 operating locations across 11 states. (Railway Age)

July 14, 2026 – BulkLoads, the Springfield, Missouri-based bulk freight marketplace acquired Livestock Network, the livestock-focused load board and online community serving the livestock transportation industry since 2000, uniting two of the trucking industry’s longest-established freight communities and expanding BulkLoads’ specialty ag-freight platform. (FreightWaves)

Building Products & Materials

July 16, 2026 – Cambium, the Washington, D.C.-based wood supply chain technology company, acquired General Woodcraft, the New London, Connecticut-based specialty wood products distributor and custom woodworking company founded in 1949, marking Cambium’s fifth acquisition in five years. (PRNewswire)

Energy

July 13, 2026 – Aditya Birla Renewables Limited, signed a definitive Share Purchase Agreement to acquire 100% of Solenergi Power Private Limited, the holding company of the Sprng Energy group operating 5 GW of solar and wind assets across India, from Shell Overseas Investments B.V. (Shell plc NYSE:SHEL), in a $1.8B enterprise value transaction, positioning the combined 9.3 GW platform to scale beyond 20 GWp in the coming years. (Shell)

July 13, 2026 – Greenfire Resources Ltd. (NYSE:GFR, TSX:GFR), the Calgary-based thermal oil sands producer, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Connacher Oil and Gas Limited, the private thermal oil sands company with a 100%-operated interest in the Great Divide oil sands project producing approximately 19,500 Bbl/d with 441 MMBbl of proved plus probable reserves and located directly adjacent to Greenfire’s Hangingstone assets, in an approximately $940M all-cash transaction. (NewsFile)

July 13, 2026 – Stryten Energy LLC, the Alpharetta, Georgia-based energy storage solutions provider and Atlas Holdings portfolio company, signed a definitive agreement to acquire C&D Trojan (C&D Technologies, Inc. and Trojan Battery Company, LLC), the Horsham, Pennsylvania-based lead- and lithium-based battery manufacturer, from KPS Capital Partners, LP, creating a combined platform operating 15 US battery manufacturing and component facilities with 3,700 employees. (BusinessWire)

Others

July 16, 2026 – ABB (SIX:ABBN) agreed to acquire British flow control company Rotork (LSE:ROR) for approximately $5.5B, marking ABB’s largest-ever acquisition and funded through proceeds from its robotics division sale to SoftBank. (WSJ)

July 16, 2026 – Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) reached a deal to acquire Berlin-based food delivery giant Delivery Hero (ETR:DHER) in a $14.8B takeover, extending the combined platform to 99 countries. (WSJ)

Top News Stories

Metals & Mining

Aluminum Dynamics plans $200M recycled aluminum slab facility in Mississippi. Recycled aluminum producer Aluminum Dynamics LLC will invest more than $200M to build a recycled aluminum slab center in Lowndes County, Mississippi, creating 100 new jobs.

Alcoa greenlights Australia gallium plant with U.S., Japan and domestic backing. Alcoa Corp said it has reached a final investment decision to set up a gallium plant at its Wagerup alumina refinery ​in Western Australia, with backing from the Australian, ​Japanese and U.S. governments and industry partners.

EU seeks U.S. tariff relief on aluminum, steel under Turnberry trade deal. The European Commission has submitted an extensive list of export products to the United States, seeking lower import tariffs or full exemptions as both the European Union and the U.S. continue implementing the Turnberry trade agreement reached last summer.

Hydro to shut down Delhi, Louisiana extrusion facility in 2027. Hydro Extrusion USA will close its aluminum extrusion facility in Delhi, Louisiana, next year, with operations scheduled to end on April 1, 2027.

Aditya Birla Group plans a $1.26B investment to triple the capacity of its alumina refinery in Odisha. India’s Aditya Birla Group has proposed an additional investment of $1.26B to expand the capacity of its Kansariguda alumina refinery in Odisha to 3 million tonnes per annum, according to the Odisha government.

Transportation & Logistics

DP World plans UAE port, container terminal to bypass Strait of Hormuz. Dubai Ports World plans to develop a new port and container terminal on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. The project would be located near Fujairah and lessen dependence on the UAE’s Port of Jebel Ali, the busiest container gateway in the Persian Gulf, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Container ship attacked in Strait of Hormuz as Iran widens war. Iran targeted a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz as it widened its war with the United States amid a crumbling ceasefire and climbing gas prices.

Energy

Chevron will explore creating Strait of Hormuz alternative for Iraqi oil. Chevron intends to sign preliminary deals to invest in two Iraqi oil fields and will join a consortium of investors exploring building a pipeline to connect Iraq’s oil patch with the Syrian coast.

KKR-led group raises takeover bid for Ireland’s DCC to $7.9B. Private ‌equity firms KKR and Energy Capital Partners have sweetened their takeover bid for Ireland’s DCC for the second time in five weeks, valuing it at up to $7.9B.

IDF, Oaktree to invest $1.7B in Bloom Energy fuel cells for AI infrastructure. Industrial Development Funding (IDF) and U.S.-based asset manager Oaktree said they ​will invest $1.7B in deploying Bloom ‌Energy’s fuel-cell technology to help power AI cloud infrastructure, including dedicated electricity supply for ​Nebius’ AI computing operations.

Trump cuts to clean energy linked to $83B in delayed or canceled projects. Trump administration policies that scaled back federal support for clean energy have led to the cancellation ​or delay of $83B in investment across hundreds of projects, according to a report ‌released by labor and environmental coalition BlueGreen Alliance.

Others

Stripe and private-equity firm Advent offer to buy PayPal. Stripe and buyout firm Advent International made a joint takeover bid for PayPal Holdings in a deal that would value the fintech company at around $53B, according to people familiar with the matter.

TSMC to invest a further $100B in U.S. after AI fuels surge in earnings. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. just delivered another earnings beat. It has also pledged to invest an additional $100B in the U.S. and plans to spend a record amount, cementing its position atop the global semiconductor supply chain, sending one of the strongest signals yet that the artificial-intelligence boom is alive and kicking.

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.

BACK TO NEWS