Milbank advised the H.C. Starck group on entering into an agreement to sell its industry-leading, electronic materials business (HCS-Electronic Materials) to US-based Materion Corporation, a NYSE-listed world leader in high-performing advanced materials. Following closing of the transaction, HCS-Electronic Materials will be part of Materion’s Advanced Materials segment.
The transaction, for a purchase price of $380 million, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.
The H.C. Starck group is a leading manufacturer of high-tech tungsten metal powders and carbides (midstream tungsten products) with production hubs in Europe, North America and China serving customers across the globe. The H.C. Starck group is part of the portfolio of the private equity investors Advent International and The Carlyle Group. Previously, Milbank advised H.C. Starck group on the sale of its tungsten business, the sale of H.C. Starck Ceramics GmbH as well as on the sale of the Tantalum & Niobium division and the Surface Technology & Ceramic Powders division.
HCS-Electronic Materials, located in Newton, Massachusetts, is a leading provider of high-quality, high-purity tantalum sputtering targets, important in the manufacture of today’s leading-edge semiconductor chips.
The Milbank team that advised the H.C. Starck group on the corporate, tax, antitrust and finance law aspects of the transaction included special counsel Andrea Eggenstein (Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), partners Robert F. Kennedy (Corporate/M&A), Nicholas Smith (Technology), Russell Kestenbaum (Tax, all New York), Rolf Füger (Tax), Norbert Rieger (Corporate/M&A, both Munich) as well as special counsel John Garces (Corporate/M&A, New York) and associates Soumya Sharma (Corporate/M&A, New York), Alexandra Schäfer (Corporate/M&A, Munich), Frank Pensabene, Christina Welch, Jonathan Schwartz, Stephen Tomasulo, Reed Homan (all Corporate/M&A), Matthias Riehl (Antitrust), Lara Milione (Finance, Frankfurt), Johannes Wohlmuth (Corporate/M&A), Archan Hazra (Tax), Jon Sorger (Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits, all New York), Moritz Philipp (Tax, Munich), Gemma Cullen (Corporate/M&A, London).
