Masan High Tech Materials’ HCS plant in Germany. Masan High-Tech Materials had reached a framework agreement with Mitsubishi Materials Corporation Group of Japan. — Photo courtesy of Masan High-Tech Materials

HCM CITY — Masan High-Tech Materials (HNX-UpCOM: MSR) announced on May 14 that it had reached a framework agreement with Mitsubishi Materials Corporation Group of Japan.

MMC Group intends to acquire 100 per cent of H.C. Starck Holding (Germany) GmbH from Masan High-Tech Materials.

The parties will enter into a long-term, win-win APT and tungsten oxide offtake agreement.

Masan is expected to retain its ownership in Nyobolt, a fast-charging lithium-ion battery technology company based in the UK.

Masan is also expected to retain potential monetary upside from future commercialisation of blackmass technology intellectual property developed by HCS.

In 2020 Masan High-Tech Materials acquired 100 per cent of HCS with the goal of bringing tungsten recycling technology to Việt Nam to transition itself to a more circular and sustainable business model.

In the same year MHT entered into a partnership with MMC Group.

However, due to regulatory constraints limiting MHT’s ability to import tungsten scrap into Việt Nam to implement its recycling strategy, MHT intends to sell 100 per cent of HCS to MMC Group to focus on optimising its domestic operations.

This framework agreement marks the next step in the parties’ business cooperation.

The use of proceeds from the envisaged transactions will be to reduce MHT’s outstanding debt balance. The offtake agreement with MMC Group anchors MHT’s tungsten products order book and enables it to maximise its overall order book.

The retention of Nyobolt is strategic and there is significant potential upside: in July 2023 the company successfully demonstrated an EV concept with six-minute charging.

Nyobolt has also signed Head of Terms with two major commercial customers and is in the final stage of finalising contracts, demonstrating significant progress towards commercialisation.

The combined transactions are expected to be accretive to Masan Group’s consolidated earnings and are consistent with the group’s deleveraging target of net debt to EBITDA of 3.5 times or less.

This also marks the first step in the group’s continuing journey to reduce interest in non-core businesses.

MMC Group’s potential acquisition of HCS plays to its strengths in the mid- and down-stream portions of the 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 in the application phase.

Binding agreements between the parties shall be subject to further discussions and customary corporate approvals.

Masan High-Tech Materials is the global leader in providing advanced tungsten materials used in key industries such as electronics, chemical, automotive, aviation and aerospace, energy, and pharmaceuticals with production facilities in Việt Nam, Germany, Canada, and China.

As the largest manufacturer of mid-stream tungsten products outside of China, the company has a research and development centre each in Germany and Việt Nam, and it is currently operating the Núi Pháo polymetallic mine and a state-of-the-art tungsten processing plant in Thái Nguyên Province.

It is also a globally significant producer of fluorite and bismuth.

HCS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Masan High Tech Materials, is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality tungsten powder tailored to individual customer needs.

MMC Group is an “integrated materials manufacturer”, providing such basic materials as copper and cement.

The group also manufactures and sells mechanical parts, electronic materials and components used in automobiles, home appliances and others, and the tools used to make them.

It is also involved in recycling and the energy business. — VNS