HO CHI MINH: Masan High-Tech Materials Group announced the signing of definitive agreements with Mitsubishi Materials Corporation Group, which includes MMC Group that will acquire 100% of HC Starck Holding (Germany) GmbH from MHT Group for an equity purchase price of US$134.5 million (RM633.09 million).
The parties will enter into a long-term, win-win APT and tungsten oxide offtake agreement, where Masan will retain its ownership in Nyobolt, a fast-charging tungsten and niobium-based battery technology company based in the United Kingdom.
Masan will also retain potential monetary upside from the future commercialisation of black mass recycling technology developed by HCS.
Transaction proceeds will be used to reduce MHT’s outstanding debt balance, consistent with Masan Group’s target to reduce net debt to its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to below 3.5 times.
Masan is expected to report a one-time profit gain of approximately US$40 million (RM188.28 million) as a result of the transaction and benefit from long-term net profit after tax uplift of US$20-30 million (RM94-141 million).
Meanwhile, in July 2023, Nyobolt unveiled an EV concept with a 6-minute charging time and has signed head terms with two major commercial customers.
There is also a monetary upside for Masan as Nyobolt starts to commercialise its innovative tungsten-niobium battery technology.
MHT Chief Executive Officer of Masan Group and Chairman, Danny Le commented, “We will focus on rebuilding MHT to the lowest cost producer of tungsten to maximize cash flows. At the same time, we will continue to explore strategic alternatives to transform Masan Group into a consumer pure-play.”
MMC Group’s acquisition of HCS plays to its strengths in the mid-stream and downstream tungsten value chain.
The acquisition will provide MMC Group with access to HCS’s production hubs in Europe, North America and China as well as a comprehensive tungsten scrap recycling platform backed by proprietary intellectual property including 90 worldwide patents and another 53 patents in the application phase.
The transaction also marks the next step of business cooperation between the parties, representing a unique opportunity to create an end-to-end global tungsten alliance.
UBS AG Singapore Branch acted as the financial advisor to MHT. The closing of the transaction is expected by the end of 2024 and is subject to customary corporate and regulatory approvals.
