www.ushalonbank.com 1.800.433.1751                                   Mid-May 2023 - Vol 4, Issue 13

On May 9th, a Boeing 777-300ER operated by KLM had taken off from Amsterdam Schiphol for São Paulo when an engine failure was experienced about an hour after takeoff. The aircraft turned around in the area above Wales and returned to Amsterdam. It remains on the ground more than a day since the incident occurred.

WILMINGTON, Del. -- DuPont announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Spectrum Plastics Group from AEA Investors. The purchase price will be paid from existing cash balances. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2023, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Spectrum is a recognized leader in advanced manufacturing of specialty medical devices and components, serving 22 of the top 26 medical device OEMs with a strategic focus on key fast-growing therapeutic areas such as structural heart, electrophysiology, surgical robotics and cardiovascular.

ATLANTA -- Pye-Barker Fire & Safety – the largest fully integrated fire protection, life safety and security provider in the United States – has acquired Vanguard Fire & Security Systems, a leader in Michigan and surrounding markets. With this, Pye-Barker continues its national footprint expansion by entering Michigan, its 35th state reached through an aggressive and purposeful acquisition strategy.

A battery energy storage system (BESS) is well defined by its name. It is a means for storing electricity in a system of batteries for later use. As a system, BESSs are typically a collection of battery modules and load management equipment. BESS installations can range from residential-sized systems up to large arrays of BESS containers supporting a utility-grade wind farm or grid services.

BESSs are installed for a variety of purposes. One popular application is the storage of excess power production from renewable energy sources. During periods of low renewable energy production, the power stored in the BESS can be brought online.

On May 14, 2023, Kidde-Fenwal filed for bankruptcy protection in the Delaware court system, citing the costs of PFAS litigation and liabilities as untenable and substantially exceeding the company’s ability to pay. By way of background, Kidde-Fenwal did not manufacture the AFFF product that is at issue in the over 4,400 lawsuits that the company has been named in related to PFAS since 2016. Rather, the company supplied the product from 2007 to 2013 to parties that used the products. As a supplier, Kidde-Fenwal is routinely named in PFAS litigation in which it is alleged that a PFAS-containing AFFF product contributed to environmental pollution or personal injury. While the court documents filed with the court do not indicate the total estimated liabilities for the company due to the AFFF litigation, the documents do indicate that Kidde-Fenwal has $318 million in assets and had $200 million in sales revenue in 2022, with litigation costs of over $6 million to date in 2023.

Less than 48 hours after The Wall Street Journal first reported that HVAC giant Carrier Corporation was in "talks" to acquire privately held German rival Viessmann Climate Solutions for "more than $10 billion," Carrier itself confirmed the deal in a press release -- with one caveat:  The actual purchase price won't be $10 billion, but rather 12 billion euros (i.e. $13.2 billion), paid in cash and stock.

Investors don't seem overly enthused by the news. Carrier shares sank 3.5% after Carrier confirmed the reports (although the fact that Carrier also reported a 72% year-over-year decline in quarterly profit may have also contributed to investors' dismay).

Since 2008, fires on Navy ships that were undergoing maintenance have caused more than $4 billion in damages—and the loss of two ships. Maintenance repairs on ships can cause sparks in confined areas, leaving them at high risk of fire.

The Navy has worked to improve fire safety, but we found that lessons learned from fires aren't being shared consistently across the service. And while there are fire safety trainings and drills for ship crews, there isn't a Navy-wide standard for evaluating how effective these trainings are.