Kickstart: The rush for year-end deals

If you thought trying to finish your Christmas shopping was stressful, just imagine the pressure of trying to wrangle the final details of a $3 billion acquisition.

At the end of each year we see an increase in the number of M&A deals companies roll out before closing their fiscal calendar. And while 2023 may have had fewer deals than the past few years (M&A activity was down 17 percent for the first half of 2023, according to P&M Corporate Finance, as PN's Frank Esposito noted in July), there is still plenty of action.

In fact, PMCF noted Dec. 1, there were 39 deals in October in global plastics M&A, the highest monthly number in 2023.

What's driving those sales? Strategic buyers recorded more than 25 transactions for the month, PMCF said. That could include deals such as one by La Sueur Inc., an injection molder and metal castings business in La Sueur, Minn., which added on prototyping and tooling specialist Craft Pattern & Mold, another Minnesota company.

Other trends? Interest by private equity firms and an "uptick in transition activity" in the medical end markets. Just see the acquisition announced Dec. 18 by Swedish equity fund EQT AB for Zeus Co. Inc., a South Carolina medical tubing specialist as an example. Neither EQT nor Zeus, a family-owned business that opened in 1966, announced an acquisition price, but Bloomberg estimated the deal's value at $3.4 billion.

The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has spiraled out to impact shipping in the Middle East with petroleum and chemical company BP LLC announcing Dec. 18 that it has halted marine shipments in the Red Sea.

The narrow sea that separates Saudi Arabia and Egypt and connects to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal has been the site of attacks on global shipping from Houthi rebels in Yemen supporting Hamas.

Several cargo companies had already curtailed movement and now BP says it has halted shipping through the region indefinitely. Courtney Bonnell of the Associated Press writes that the Houthi attacks are "effectively rerouting global trade," as cargo ships will now need to sail around Africa to avoid the region, adding weeks of travel time. The International Chamber of Shipping says 12 percent of global trade passes through the Red Sea.

Brent crude oil prices rose at least 2 percent in trading Dec. 18 following BP's announcement.

Seeing a big manufacturer announce a partnership with an environmental group is one thing. How do they then convert that press announcement into making sure someone pays attention?

If you're the Ocean Cleanup and South Korean automaker Kia, how about inviting the automotive press out to a demonstration during the Los Angeles auto show?

Kia and the Netherlands-based trash collection project first announced a partnership in 2022. In late November 2023, they set up a trash collector on Ballona Creek and invited the press.

Jamie Butters, editor of our sister paper Automotive News, was among the visitors. On Dec. 18, AN posted a video discussing the project and Kia's plan to use 75 pounds of marine plastics collected by Ocean Cleanup in its upcoming EV9 electric vehicle.

Granted, the 75 pounds is just a small part of the 440 pounds of plastics in each Kia vehicle, but corporate sponsorships — and media attention — helps get the journey underway.