Masan High-Tech Materials exits its downstream business H.C. Starck

Vietnam's Masan High-Tech Materials on Wednesday announced the successful closing of the sale of 100% of H.C. Starck Holding (Germany) GmbH to Mitsubishi Materials Corporation Group.

As part of the transaction, Masan High-Tech Materials (Hanoi Stock Exchange: MHT) and H.C. Starck (HCS) entered into a long-term, win-win APT and tungsten oxide offtake agreement, providing a strong anchor for MHT’s order book.

Masan also retains potential monetary upside from Nyobolt, a British fast-charging tungsten and niobium-based battery technology company nearing scaled commercialization, as well as future commercialization of black mass recycling technology developed by HCS.

Upon closing of the transaction, Masan Group will report a one-time after-tax profit gain, whilst transaction proceeds will be used to reduce MHT’s debt balance to approximately $490 million from approximately $670 million pre-transaction.

At the same time, Masan Group is expected to report net debt to EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) of approximately 3.17x as of December 2024, consistent with the group’s target of maintaining the ratio below 3.5x.

Danny Le, CEO of Masan Group and chairman of MHT, commented: "The sale of HCS is the first step in realigning our business platform to focus where we can create outsized shareholder value.

"At the same time, the transaction creates a healthier MHT balance sheet to ensure we remain the lowest cost producer of tungsten to take advantage of the macro and micro tailwinds – increasing demand for tungsten applications driven by improving underlying global economy."

Masan Group plans to inject an extra VND510 billion ($20.1 million) into its wholly-owned subsidiary The Sherpa, with an aim to acquire a stake in British fast-charging Li-ion battery solutions company Nyobolt Limited.