Key transactions & industry newsWeekly Update 10/09/2026

What We Found Interesting This Week

$1.5B Quebec AP60 Expansion Puts Rio Tinto at Heart of Low-carbon Aluminum Race


Rio Tinto’s $1.5B AP60 expansion at Complexe Arvida in Quebec adds roughly 160,000 tonnes per year of primary aluminum capacity when fully operational by the end of 2026, lifting total AP60 output at the site to about 220,000 tonnes and representing one of the few meaningful additions to North American primary capacity in years. The project leans into the region’s core advantage of hydro-powered smelting, and Rio expects the expansion to cut emissions by approximately 290,000 tonnes per year compared with the older Arvida technology it replaces. AP60 is Rio’s own high-amperage smelting technology, so the project also serves as a showcase for the productivity gains that could later be applied across its wider Canadian fleet as older potlines reach end of life. The commercial bet is that buyers in automotive, packaging, construction, and electrical infrastructure will continue to pay for verified low-carbon metal as emissions reporting requirements tighten, with Europe currently the largest value market for that material on the back of carbon-border requirements, and Rio has already extended the theme into new end markets, including supplying near-zero-carbon aluminum for cables at an Amazon data center in Ohio. The open question is where the incremental volume goes, as the 50% tariffs now running in both directions across the U.S.-Canada border have disrupted the traditional cross-border flow, while the U.S. has introduced incentives in July favoring domestic smelter investment, including the proposed $4B Century-EGA smelter in Oklahoma. That combination could push Rio to place more of the new output with European or Canadian downstream customers rather than its historical U.S. buyers.

Recent M&A Transactions

Metals & Mining

Oct 8, 2026 – Klöckner & Co (ETR:KCO) signed an agreement to sell Becker Group, one of the leading, producer-independent multi-metal platforms for steel, stainless steel and aluminum in Europe, to a consortium comprising Accura Investment Partners GmbH and Becker Consult + Beteiligungs-GmbH. (EUROMETAL)

Oct 6, 2026 – Pursuit Aerospace, the Manchester, Connecticut-based manufacturer of complex aircraft engine components owned by Greenbriar Equity Group and CD&R, announced its acquisition of Creasey Castings, a UK-based sandcasting specialist producing high-precision magnesium and aluminum castings for aerospace applications, marking Pursuit’s sixth acquisition since 2023 and adding capacity at a time when aerospace magnesium sandcasting availability is significantly constrained. (BusinessWire)

Transportation & Logistics

Oct 7, 2026 – Radiant Logistics (NYSE American:RLGT), the Renton, Washington-based third-party logistics provider, acquired the Dallas brokerage operations of Whitacre Logistics Services, an intermodal and over-the-road transportation unit serving building materials, manufacturing, and packaging customers, which will become part of Radiant Road & Rail. (FreightWaves)

Oct 6, 2026 – TA Services, the non-asset flagship division of PS Logistics, acquired Carmen Pacheco Transportation and Interload Forwarding, two Texas cross-border carriers operating a combined 133 trucks and more than 550,000 square feet of warehousing in El Paso and Laredo, expanding its U.S.-Mexico supply chain capabilities. (FreightWaves)

Oct 5, 2026 – C.H. Robinson (Nasdaq:CHRW) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire RXO (NYSE:RXO), the Charlotte-based asset-light freight brokerage and last-mile delivery provider, in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $5.8B, combining the No. 1 and No. 3 US truck brokerages in the largest brokerage deal in history, with $300M of targeted cost synergies and closing expected in the first half of 2027. (FreightWaves)

Building Products & Materials

Oct 7, 2026 – NCC agreed to sell its Industry business area, a stone materials and asphalt producer, in a single transaction to two buyers. The enterprise value is approximately $820M. Heidelberg Materials (ETR:HEI) takes Sweden and Norway, which comprise 106 aggregates sites and 44 hot-mix asphalt plants, and CRH (NYSE:CRH) takes Denmark and Finland. (CemNet)

Energy

Oct 8, 2026 – Crescent Energy (NYSE:CRGY) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Eagle Ford assets of Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN), approximately 90,000 net acres in Karnes, DeWitt, and Gonzales Counties, Texas, for $4.2B in cash, adding approximately 68,000 boe/d of production and more than 600 drilling locations adjacent to Crescent’s existing Karnes Trough operations, with closing expected around year-end 2026. (WorldOil)

Oct 6, 2026 – Emera (TSX:EMA, NYSE:EMA) and Canadian Utilities (TSX:CU) agreed to combine in an all-stock merger of equals, with Emera acquiring Canadian Utilities and its parent ATCO (TSX:ACO.X) at an implied Canadian Utilities enterprise value of approximately $20B, creating a top-20 North American utility with approximately $51B in combined enterprise value and six million customers, while ATCO’s industrial services business spins out as New ATCO. (Emera)

Oct 6, 2026 – Energy Transfer (TXSE:ET) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Vaquero Midstream, a gas gathering and processing operator in the core of the Delaware Basin, in a cash-and-stock bolt-on transaction valued at approximately $2.6B, with closing expected in Q4 2026. (EnergyTransfer)

Oct 5, 2026 – Cenovus Energy (TSX:CVE, NYSE:CVE) entered into a definitive arrangement agreement to acquire Athabasca Oil (TSX:ATH), one of the last independent Alberta oil sands producers, in a cash-and-stock transaction with an enterprise value of approximately $4.1B, adding approximately 45,000 boe/d from the Leismer and Corner thermal assets adjacent to Cenovus’s Christina Lake operations, with closing expected in December 2026. (WorldOil)

Others

Oct 8, 2026 – Viatris (Nasdaq:VTRS), the global healthcare company, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Pacira BioSciences (Nasdaq:PCRX), the non-opioid pain therapy developer behind EXPAREL and ZILRETTA, for $36.50 per share in cash, an equity value of $1.65B, with closing expected by year-end 2026. (WSJ)

Oct 6, 2026 – Uber (NYSE:UBER) agreed to acquire ezCater for $2.3B in cash, adding a workplace catering platform serving more than 140,000 restaurants. (Uber)

Oct 5, 2026 – Schneider Electric (EPA:SU), the French energy management and industrial automation company, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire PTC (Nasdaq:PTC), the Boston-based industrial design and product lifecycle management software maker, in an all-cash transaction at $205 per share valuing PTC’s equity at approximately $22.6B, marking Schneider’s largest acquisition ever, with closing expected by Q3 2027. (WSJ)

Top News Stories

Metals & Mining

$1.5B Quebec AP60 expansion puts Rio Tinto at heart of low-carbon aluminum race. he low-carbon aluminum market has stepped into a more competitive phase as producers invest in cleaner smelting technologies, renewable power and new downstream applications. Rio Tinto’s $1.5B AP60 smelter expansion in Quebec is the latest major development, adding around 160,000 metric tons per annum of primary aluminum capacity when fully operational by the end of 2026.

Novelis produces first coil at Alabama’s $5B aluminum rolling and recycling plant. Novelis Inc. has produced the first coil on the cold mill at its $5B Greenfield aluminum recycling and rolling plant in Bay Minette, Alabama, marking a major commissioning milestone for one of the largest new U.S. aluminum manufacturing investments in decades.

EGA announces first Guinean bauxite shipment under renewed agreement on way to UAE. Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, announced that the first shipment of Guinean bauxite under a renewed agreement with Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée is on its way to the UAE. Some 66 thousand tonnes of bauxite were loaded onto a Panamax vessel at Kamsar in late August.

Transportation & Logistics

Union Pacific CEO ‘99.99%’ confident rail merger will win approval. Union Pacific Chief Executive Jim Vena said he is “99.99%” confident regulators will approve the railroad’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern, arguing that the combination would speed freight deliveries and strengthen rail’s competition with trucking.

Hapag-Lloyd’s Zim takeover heads for reset as Israel requires new review. Hapag-Lloyd’s $4.2 billion acquisition of Zim Integrated Shipping Services remains in limbo after Israel’s Government Companies Authority ended its review of the original transaction structure, requiring the German carrier and its Israeli partner to advance a materially revised proposal through a new review process.

USDOT designates $426M for freight congestion relief projects. U.S. weekly rail traffic totaled 537,397 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.85 compared with the same week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.

Energy

U.S., Russia explore gas sale to Europe amid Ukraine war. Top Russian and U.S. officials, including U.S. Special Envoy Jared Kushner, have held talks about bringing a U.S. investor into the Nord Stream pipelines that delivered gas to Germany before Russia invaded Ukraine.

QatarEnergy’s LNG expansion project poised to start operations in November. he first liquefied natural gas train under QatarEnergy’s North Field East expansion project ​will be ready to start operation in November, two people ‌aware of the company’s plans said, offering Qatar a path to restoring some output lost to Iranian attacks.

Google enters massive 3.6-GW power deal with Constellation Energy. Google has ​contracted for 3,590 megawatts of power from Constellation Energy in the largest U.S. power grid, with new nuclear energy accounting ‌for about a quarter of that supply. Constellation will make more than $4.3B of new investments in its fleet as part of the agreement, which involves adding capacity at several of the power company’s nuclear reactors in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.

Black Hills plans $1.8B investment to power Google’s data center. Black Hills Corp signed agreements to power a proposed Google data center ​in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and plans to spend $1.8B from 2027 to 2029 on new generation capacity, as tech firms race to secure electricity for power-hungry AI data ​centers.

Others

U.S. budget deficit jumps to nearly $2T. The U.S. budget deficit climbed to nearly $2T in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office, deepening the federal government’s persistent red-ink trend.

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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