U.S. Silica Holdings to buy Sandbox Enterprises for $218.3m

The industrial minerals producer will acquire Sandbox, which provides innovative logistics solutions and technology for the transportation of proppant, the sand used for hydraulic fracturing in the oil and gas industry.    U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. said it will acquire Sandbox Enterprises in a cash and stock deal worth $218.3 million.
   Sandbox provides innovative logistics solutions and technology for the transportation of proppant, the sand used for hydraulic fracturing in the oil and gas industry.
   Sandbox utilizes specially designed 10-foot ISO containers to transport and store proppant. They are different from the containers used for the transportation of goods on ships as they have inclines at the bottom and hatches to aid in the discharge of sand. They hold up to 22.5 tons of sand and are gravity fed to reduce silica dust.
   The system Sandbox has developed has many similarities to that used to move more conventional containerized cargo. The sand containers can be moved by rail or truck. The company has developed specially designed truck chassis which it said “offer highly efficient delivery and represent a 60 percent lower investment than pneumatic equipment.”
   The sand containers can be handled by forklifts and stacked so that sand can be prepostioned at a drilling site or stored elsewhere.