There were 18 deals recorded involving top ship equipment supply, product and services companies in the three months to August with a number of high profile acquisition, private equity, asset transaction and venture financing deals.

That’s according to GlobalData’s Financial Deals database, which tracks market activity across a variety of sectors and deal types.

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The deals below only include those that have been completed – so excludes rumours or those that have been agreed but not yet executed.

The figures, which cover the top ship equipment supply, product and services companies, show the market in the US to be the most active, with seven deals taking place over the last three months. That was followed by China, which saw two deals.

Below are some of the largest completed deals to have taken place in the last quarter.

Acquisitions

Knight-Swift Transportation Acquires 100% Stake in AAA Cooper - 05 July ($1,350m)

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc., a provider of multiple transportation and logistics services, has acquired 100% of AAA Cooper Transportation, Inc. And an affiliated entity (AAA Cooper), a less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier that also offers dedicated contract carriage and ancillary services, for enterprise value of USD1.35 billion. Both companies are based in the US.

The purchase price consideration consisted of USD1.3 billion in cash, USD10 million in Knight-Swift shares, and approximately USD40 million in assumed debt, net of cash. Cash for the transaction was funded from a new USD1.2 billion term loan provided by Bank of America to Knight-Swift, as well as existing Knight-Swift liquidity.

Scudder Law Firm, P.C., L.L.O. Of Lincoln, Nebraska served as Knight-Swift's transaction and legal advisor and Maynard Cooper & Gale, LLP served as AAA Cooper's transaction and legal advisor. SJ Consulting Group, Inc. Also provided advisory services to Knight-Swift in connection with the transaction.

The transaction is expected to be accretive to Knight-Swift's Adjusted EPS1 during the third quarter of 2021.

A.P. Moller – Maersk Acquires Visible Supply Chain Management - 06 August ($838m)

A.P. Moller - Maersk AS, a Denmark-based logistics company, has acquired Visible Supply Chain Management, LLC, a US-based provider of e-commerce fulfillment and parcel delivery services, for an enterprise value of USD838 million.

Ballard Spahr acted as advisor for Visible Supply Chain Management.

Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors Acquires Transtar from United States Steel - 08 June ($640m)

Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC, an owner and acquirer of transportation equipment and infrastructure, has acquired Transtar, LLC, a rail operating subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation, for USD640 million. All the companies are based in the US.

Morgan Stanley and Barclays are acting as financial advisors, and Sidley Austin LLP as legal advisor to Fortress Transportation.

Citi is acting as financial advisor, and Jones Day and Baker & Miller PLLC are acting as legal advisors to United States Steel.

Deal History:

Announced: On June 8, 2021, Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors announced to acquire Transtar for USD640 million. All the companies are based in the US.

Tanger Mediterranean Special Agency Acquires 35% Stake in Societe d Exploitation des Ports (Marsa Maroc) - 27 July ($605m)

Tanger Mediterranean Special Agency has acquired a 35% stake in Societe d Exploitation des Ports SA (Marsa Maroc), for MAD5.48 billion (USD604.95 million). Both the companies involved in the transaction are Morocco-based port operators.

Werner Enterprises Acquires 80% Stake in ECM Transport Group - 01 July ($142m)

Werner Enterprises Inc, a provider of transportation and logistics services, has acquired an 80% stake in ECM Transport Group, a provider of truckload services, for USD142.4 million and retains an exclusive option to buy the remaining 20% of ECM Transport Group after a period of five years. Both the companies are based in the US.

Werner financed the transaction through a combination of cash on hand, existing credit facilities and a new USD100 million fixed-rate term loan maturing in May 2024 with BMO Harris Bank N.A.

Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O. Acted as legal advisor to Werner Enterprises. Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP acted as legal advisor to ECM Transport Group.

Venture financing

Waabi Secures USD83.5 Million in Series A Funding - 08 June ($84m)

Waabi, a Canadian developer and manufacturer of autonomous vehicles, has secured USD83.5 million Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures LLC.

In addition, investors including Uber, 8VC, Radical Ventures, OMERS Ventures, BDC, Aurora Innovation, Geoffrey Hinton, Fei-Fei Li, Pieter Abbeel and Sanja Fidler also participated in the funding.

New York Shipping Exchange Secures USD15 Million in Venture Funding - 25 August ($15m)

New York Shipping Exchange Inc, a US-based provider of digital forward freight contract services for the shipping industry, has secured USD15 Million in venture funding round led by NewRoad Capital Partners, with participation from Collate Capital, Blumberg Capital and the New York Angels, CMA CGM, Maersk, Ocean Network Express, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, and COSCO Shipping.

Miles Raises USD12.5 Million in Series A Venture Funding - 22 July ($12m)

Miles, a US based provider of universal miles earning program, has raised USD12.5 Million in Series A venture Funding led by Scrum Ventures, with participation from TransLink Capital and Japan Airlines (as JAL Innovation Fund), TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance (MS&AD), Synapse Partners.

It also includes other individual investors including Vikram Malhotra, Chairman of the Americas with McKenzie; Ashish Toshniwal, CEO of Y Media Labs; Viral Bajaria, Chief Technology Officer of 6Sense; Chenxi Wang, Managing Partner, Rain Capital; and Harris Barton, serial investor and former All-Pro Lineman for The San Francisco 49ers.

DEXLAB Secures USD1.44 Million in Venture Funding - 30 June ($1m)

Dexlab, a token minting platform, has secured USD1.44 million led by blockchain VCs.

In addition, Solana and Eco Serum, Parataxis Capital, Genesis Block Ventures, CMS, NGC Ventures, Ledger Prime, Arca, Bixin, DFG, Sonic Capital, members of Race Capital, VTG, Evernew Capital, Genblock, Rok Capital, Dragon Roark, 499Block, Cryptomeria Capital, Axia8 Ventures, M6, and PetRock Capital. Also participated in the funding round.

Dennis Lee is the CEO of Dexlab.

MooVita Secures Series A Venture Funding - 08 June

MooVita, a Singapore-based an autonomous vehicle (AV) tech startups has secured Series A Venture Funding and led by Yinson Green Technologies Division, Pioneer Smart Sensing Innovations Corporation, SEEDS Capital and GreenMeadows Accelerator,SMRT Ventures.

Private equity

Yamato Invests in iStore - 26 July

Yamato Holdings Co Ltd, a Japan-based provider of door-to-door delivery service has invested iStore iSend Pte. Ltd(iStore iSend) a provider of logistics and supply chain services.

Asset transactions

NYK Line Sells Tsuruga Tanker For US$39.8 Million - 30 July ($40m)

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Group, has sold Tsuruga tanker to Greek buyers, for a sale consideration of $39.8 million.

The Tsuruga is a 2009-built, Panama-flagged crude oil tanker, with a gross tonnage of 160,068 tons and deadweight tonnage of 309,960 tons.

NGM Energy Acquires Takahashi Tanker From NYK Line For US$34.4 Million - 16 July ($34m)

NGM Energy SA has acquired Takahashi tanker from Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Group, for a purchase consideration of US$34.35 million.

The Takahashi is a 2007-built, Japan-flagged crude oil tanker, with a gross tonnage of 160,235 tons and deadweight tonnage of 314,020 tons.

The transaction enables NGM Energy to strengthen its fleet of vessels.

MOL Sells Katsuragisan Tanker For US$28.5 Million - 27 August ($28m)

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), a Japanese transport company, has sold Katsuragisan tanker to a Chinese buyer, for a sale consideration of US$28.5 million.

The Katsuragisan is a 2005-built, Japan-flagged crude oil tanker, with a dead weight tonnage of 311,620 tons and gross tonnage of 160,250 tons.

Euronav Sells Filikon Tanker For US$16.3 Million - 07 June ($16m)

Euronav NV, a shipping company, has sold Filikon tanker for a sale consideration of $16.3 million.

The Filikon is a 2002-built, Liberia-flagged crude oil tanker, with a gross tonnage of 78,845 tons and deadweight tonnage of 149,989 tons.

By Michael Goodier.