Key transactions & industry newsWeekly Update 08/14/2026

What We Found Interesting This Week

Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan, HF Sinclair Approve $5B Western Gateway Project


The $5B Western Gateway project highlights the growing value of domestic energy infrastructure as California becomes more exposed to supply disruptions. The state has lost meaningful refining capacity and remains relatively isolated from major U.S. refining hubs, increasing its reliance on seaborne fuel imports. Recent disruption around the Strait of Hormuz highlighted California’s exposure to global fuel markets, as tighter crude availability in Asia reduced regional refinery output, limited exports to the West Coast, and increased pressure on California fuel supply and pricing. Western Gateway would create a 230,000 barrel-per-day connection between Midcontinent and Gulf Coast supply and markets in Arizona and California, providing a more reliable domestic alternative to incremental imports. For Phillips 66 and HF Sinclair, the project creates a new outlet for inland refinery production, while Kinder Morgan benefits from greater utilization of existing pipeline infrastructure. Importantly, the system is expected to be underpinned primarily by 10-year take-or-pay contracts, limiting volume risk and providing greater visibility on returns. The strategic value is therefore both commercial and logistical, giving the partners contracted infrastructure exposure while addressing the growing mismatch between inland U.S. refining capacity and West Coast fuel demand.

Recent M&A Transactions

Metals & Mining

Aug 11, 2026 – Lindsay Goldberg, a private investment firm specializing in family-owned and founder-led businesses with over $24B of equity capital raised since 2001, will become the majority investor in Alro Steel, the Jackson, Michigan-based metals service center and distribution company founded by the Glick family in 1948, with the family retaining a significant ownership interest and existing leadership continuing to run the business.(Steel Market Update)

Aug 11, 2026 – Blue Moon Metals (TSXV:MOON, Nasdaq:BMM) acquired a portfolio of 33 tungsten and antimony projects across the western US, including projects near its Springer complex in Nevada, one of the few tungsten processing plants in the country, in a $20.5M transaction furthering its US critical minerals consolidation strategy. (Mining.com)

Aug 10, 2026 – IES Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:IESC) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire DBM Global Inc., the Phoenix, Arizona-based vertically integrated structural steel fabrication, erection, and industrial services platform with approximately $1.3B in revenue and 3,400 employees, from INNOVATE Corp. (NYSE:VATE) for approximately $650M in cash and stock. (GlobeNewswire)

Transportation & Logistics

Aug 13, 2026 – SK Shipping and H-Line Shipping, both owned by South Korean private equity firm Hahn & Co., agreed to swap vessels and long-term contracts, with SK Shipping receiving 16 LNG carriers in exchange for 12 tankers, contracts, and approximately $300M in cash, creating the world’s third largest LNG carrier operator with 32 LNG vessels to be rebranded as K-LNG. (gCaptain)

Aug 12, 2026 – Proficient Auto Logistics (NASDAQ:PAL), a leading provider of auto transportation and logistics services, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Hansen & Adkins, the Los Alamitos, California-based auto transport company founded in 1994, for $130M upfront plus up to $22.1M in earnout payments, creating North America’s largest finished vehicle logistics platform moving more than 4 million vehicles annually across the US and Canada. (Transport Topics)

Aug 10, 2026 – MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO), the Oldsmar, Florida-based world’s largest recreational boat and yacht retailer operating more than 70 dealerships and 65 marina and storage locations, entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Safe Harbor Marinas, the Blackstone Infrastructure portfolio company and world’s largest marina owner-operator, for $53.00 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.5B. (BusinessWire)

Building Products & Materials

Aug 7, 2026 – Dream Finders Homes, Inc. (NYSE:DFH) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH), the Atlanta-based national homebuilder operating in 15 markets across 13 states, in an all-cash transaction at $33.50 per share and an enterprise value of approximately $2.2B, creating the sixth largest listed US homebuilder by revenue with closing expected in Q4 2026. (BusinessWire)

Energy

Aug 10, 2026 – California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) announced an agreement to acquire Crimson Midstream Holdings from CorEnergy Infrastructure Trust for $63M in cash, adding approximately 2,000 miles of California crude pipeline infrastructure with transportation capacity of up to 400,000 barrels per day, including the SoCal Pipeline Network, San Pablo Bay Pipeline, and KLM Pipeline. Jefferies advised CRC and Evercore advised CorEnergy. (CRC)

Others

Aug 13, 2026 – Thoma Bravo, the software-focused private equity firm with more than $172B in assets under management, entered into a definitive agreement to take Accelerant Holdings (NYSE:ARX), the specialty insurance risk exchange platform, private in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value of more than $4.4B at $20.25 per share, a 49 percent premium, just over a year after Accelerant’s IPO. (WSJ)

Aug 11, 2026 – Mari, the global live events and experiences company founded by Hollywood mogul Ari Emanuel with backing from Apollo and RedBird Capital Partners, agreed to acquire ATG Entertainment, the world’s largest theater operator with 70 venues across the UK, US, Germany, and Spain including seven Broadway houses and ten in London’s West End, from Providence Equity Partners in a deal valued at approximately $6.0B including debt. (WSJ)

Aug 10, 2026 – Teledyne Technologies (NYSE:TDY) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Varex Imaging Corporation (NASDAQ:VREX), the Salt Lake City-based manufacturer of X-ray tubes, digital detectors, and imaging components serving medical and industrial inspection markets, for $18.90 per share in cash, an aggregate value of approximately $1.1B and a 52 percent premium, with closing expected in early 2027. (WSJ)

Top News Stories

Metals & Mining

2A USA bets $32M on Auburn aluminum die-casting facility expansion. Italian aluminum die-casting company 2A USA will invest $32M to expand its manufacturing facility in Auburn, Alabama, increasing its capacity to produce large and complex aluminum components for the North American heavy truck industry.

Australia commits $1.76B to keep Rio Tinto aluminum smelter open. Australia would provide $1.76B ‌to help keep global miner Rio Tinto’s Tomago aluminum smelter, the country’s largest power user, open beyond 2028, as it transitions to renewable generation.

Aluminum prices ease after EGA targets full recovery of Al Taweelah smelter by Q1 2027. Aluminum prices fell after Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) reaffirmed its timeline to restore full production at the Al Taweelah smelter by the first quarter of 2027, easing market concerns over supply from the Gulf.

U.S. backs Guyana bauxite to diversify the Bauxite supply chain. The U.S. Government is putting $85.5M into Guyana’s bauxite industry as Washington seeks to diversify its refractory-grade bauxite supply and reduce reliance on China and Chinese-owned sources.

Transportation & Logistics

BNSF expands Phoenix-to-North Texas intermodal service. BNSF Railway announced an expanded intermodal service between the Phoenix metropolitan and Dallas-Fort Worth areas in Arizona and Texas, respectively.

Mega rail deal under fire: 7 State AGs warn UP-NS merger could drive up shipping costs. A coalition of seven Republican state attorneys general is urging the Surface Transportation Board to reject Union Pacific’s proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern, arguing that the railroads have not shown the transaction would serve the public interest or strengthen rail-to-rail competition.

U.S. container imports surge on China peak season momentum. U.S. containerized imports increased 4.5% in July from June, reaching 2.51 million twenty foot equivalent units as the traditional peak shipping season gained momentum, according to Descartes Systems Group’s July Global Shipping Report.


Trump extends Jones Act waiver for 90 days, narrows scope. President Donald Trump has extended for 90 ‌days a waiver allowing foreign-flagged ships to transport oil and other commodities between U.S. ports, but imposed new limits after shipbuilders and their allies in Congress argued the policy was undermining the domestic maritime industry, the White House said.

Energy

U.S. eyes indefinite Iran naval blockade as oil supply shortfall deepens. The United States threatened to maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely, ratcheting ​up economic pressure on Tehran as ceasefire talks have floundered, global oil supply is dropping and regional tensions are rising.

PJM proposes plan to buy more power for data centers. PJM Interconnection, the biggest U.S. grid operator, proposed a backstop plan with federal regulators ‌to procure more power generation to avoid outages from the surging electricity needs of data centers.

Bangladesh turns to U.S. for LNG supplies amid global supply disruptions. Bangladesh is turning to the United States for a long-term liquefied natural gas supply deal as it seeks to shore ​up energy supplies amid disruptions in global gas markets caused ‌by the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.

Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan, HF Sinclair approve $5B Western Gateway project. Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan, and HF Sinclair ​have decided to proceed with the proposed $5B Western Gateway Pipeline ‌system and finalized a joint venture agreement for the same.

Others

Cool inflation data propels stocks to fresh records. Prices on consumer and wholesale goods aren’t rising as much as feared, and that has been good for stock prices. Two straight days of soft inflation data lifted the S&P 500 index to an all-time high.

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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