Elmet Buys 4.99% of Masan High-Tech Materials (MSR) at VND 58,600/Share

Overview

US-based The Elmet Group Co. (NASDAQ: ELMT) has agreed to acquire 4.99% of Masan High-Tech Materials (UPCoM: MSR) from Masan Horizon, a Masan Group subsidiary, at VND 58,600 per share for a total of roughly VND 3,231 billion (~USD 125 million). The transaction values MSR’s equity at approximately USD 2.5 billion and forms part of a broader plan to transfer up to 10% of MSR, widen its institutional shareholder base and move the company closer to a HOSE listing.

Key Facts

• Elmet will buy more than 55.1 million MSR shares, equal to 4.99% of the company, for about VND 3,231 billion (~USD 125 million).
• The agreed price is approximately VND 58,600 per share, implying an MSR equity valuation of roughly USD 2.5 billion.
• Masan Horizon registered to transfer up to 10% of MSR; the remaining 5.01% is reserved for institutional investors at no less than the Elmet price.
• Under SEC filings, Elmet receives rights equivalent to a 5% major shareholder, including the ability to request an extraordinary general meeting and propose agenda items.
• Elmet may nominate one MSR board member provided it retains at least 80% of the shares initially purchased; before that, it may send a non-voting board observer.
• Elmet is entitled to audited consolidated financial statements within 90 days, semi-annual statements within 60 days and quarterly accounting reports within 45 days.
• The agreement grants Elmet priority negotiation rights over a bismuth supply arrangement from the Nui Phao mine under certain conditions.

What Happened

Masan Horizon, a subsidiary of Masan Group, registered to transfer up to 10% of Masan High-Tech Materials on UPCoM. The 4.99% portion is already committed to The Elmet Group Co., a US-listed industrial materials group, under an agreement signed earlier by the two parties. The remaining 5.01% is earmarked for institutional investors at a price no lower than that paid by Elmet. Masan described the move as part of a restructuring of its ownership in MSR aimed at broadening the institutional shareholder base, increasing the free float and advancing the company toward a HOSE listing.

According to filings submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Masan Horizon committed to facilitating rights for Elmet comparable to those of a 5% shareholder, even though Elmet’s stake stops just below the threshold that triggers major-shareholder status under Vietnamese securities law. These include the right to request an extraordinary general meeting, propose agenda items and, where legally permitted, request that authorities review and annul general meeting resolutions. The filings also disclose a priority negotiation right over bismuth supply from the Nui Phao mine, extending the relationship beyond tungsten.

Market Context

MSR closed at VND 53,000 on 28 September 2026, down 0.93% on volume of 46,600 shares. The agreed sale price of VND 58,600 sits above that close, a gap that reflects both the negotiated nature of the block and the strategic value Elmet attaches to Nui Phao’s tungsten and bismuth output. MSR trades on UPCoM, Vietnam’s unlisted public company market, where liquidity is thinner than on HOSE; the planned transfer and free-float expansion are explicitly framed as steps toward a main-board listing.

Strategic Significance

The transaction is less about the 4.99% headline and more about the contractual architecture behind it. By stopping just below Vietnam’s 5% major-shareholder threshold, Elmet avoids the associated disclosure and takeover-panel obligations while securing board representation, meeting-convening rights and privileged access to financial information. The bismuth negotiation right is the strategically distinctive element: Nui Phao is one of the few non-Chinese primary sources of the metal, which is used in defence, semiconductors and specialty alloys, and Elmet’s US reporting obligations give it a structural interest in securing supply. For Masan, the deal monetises a minority stake, validates a USD 2.5 billion valuation for MSR and creates a credible path to a HOSE listing.

What to Watch

• Completion of the 4.99% transfer and disclosure of the final buyer list for the remaining 5.01%.
• Any MSR board nomination or observer appointment by Elmet, and the timing of that appointment.
• Progress on a formal bismuth supply agreement from Nui Phao, which the SEC filing frames as a priority negotiation right rather than a signed contract.
• MSR’s HOSE listing application and the free-float level required to support it.
• Subsequent filings by Elmet with the SEC detailing the economics of the tungsten and bismuth arrangements.