In recent outbound deal activities, Vietnam-based Masan Group has agreed to sell German tungsten powder producer H.C. Starck Holding, while Singapore’s City Developments Limited has acquired the Hilton Paris Opéra hotel from Blackstone.
Masan to sell H.C. Starck to Mitsubishi unit
Vietnamese conglomerate Masan Group, through its subsidiary Masan High-Tech Materials, will divest German tungsten powder producer H.C. Starck Holding to Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, in order to focus on its local consumer retail business.
Masan High-Tech Materials fully acquired H.C. Starck in 2020 but faced “regulatory constraints” limiting its ability to import tungsten scraps into Vietnam, the company said in a statement.
“Use of proceeds from the envisaged transactions will be to reduce Masan High-Tech Materials’s outstanding debt balance,” the company said.
In 2022, H.C. Starck invested £45 million ($56 million) in UK-based fast-charging Li-ion battery solutions company Nyobolt. Masan revealed that its subsidiary will retain its ownership in Nyobolt as a strategic move, which offers “significant potential upside”.
“In July 2023, Nyobolt successfully demonstrated an EV concept with a 6-minute charging time; in addition, Nyobolt has signed Head of Terms with two major commercial customers and is in the final stage of finalising contracts, demonstrating significant progress towards commercialisation,” Masan added.
The transaction marks the first step in Masan’s continuous journey to reduce interest in non-core businesses, it said.
CDL buys Paris hotel from Blackstone for $260m
SGX Mainboard-listed real estate company City Developments Limited (CDL) said it has acquired the Hilton Paris Opéra hotel from Blackstone for 240 million euros ($260 million).
Strategically located in the heart of Paris’s central business district, the hotel “offers easy access to the main Parisian tourist attractions and convention centres”, CDL said in a statement.
The hotel underwent an extensive rejuvenation in 2015 under a 43.4-million-euro refurbishment programme and achieved the BREEAM In-Use Very Good certification for sustainable building performance in 2023.
Paris attracts over 38 million visitors every year and is expected to receive more than 15 million visitors over the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games period commencing in July 2024, according to the statement.
“This acquisition provides us with the rare opportunity to enhance our hospitality portfolio with a trophy asset, expand our presence in a key gateway city in Europe ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics and bolster our recurring income with the potential for value-add,” said Kwek Leng Beng, CDL’s Executive Chairman.
With the acquisition of the Hilton Paris Opéra, CDL now has three hotels with 670 rooms in the French capital.