A high-tech production line of Masan High-Tech Materials Corporation in Vietnam (Photo courtesy of the company) Hanoi (VNA) – Masan High-Tech Materials Corporation has signed definitive agreements to establish a strategic alliance in the tungsten industry with Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, with an objective of developing a leading high-tech tungsten materials platform.
As part of the deal, Mitsubishi Materials will buy more than 109.9 million newly issued shares through a private placement for an estimated value of 90 million USD.
Once completed, Mitsubishi Materials will become the second largest shareholder of Masan High-Tech Materials with an ownership of 10 percent.
The two sides will discuss the development of a separate business unit to strengthen and unlock the synergies between their respective mid-stream tungsten platforms.
After the acquisition of H.C Starck, a leading global mid-stream tungsten business this June, forming strategic partnership with Mitsubishi Materials is validation of the Masan High-Tech Material's transformation into a vertically integrated high-tech tungsten platform.
Masan High-Tech Materials’s Chief Executive Officer Craig Bradshaw said forging a strategic alliance with Mitsubishi Materials will certainly accelerate its vision to become an end-to-end global high-tech industrial materials platform. Customers will benefit the most as this partnership will strengthen capabilities to supply quality and innovative products and solutions.
For his part, Makoto Shibata, Director and Chief Financial Officer of Mitsubishi Materials, said the tungsten business including the cemented carbide tool business is viewed as one of the major pillars of its growth strategy, adding that new investment in Masan High-Tech Material will have a significant impact on the firm’s development.
The closing of the strategic investment is subject to certain regulatory approvals (including governmental approval in Vietnam) and Masan High-Tech Materials’ shareholders’ approval./.
