Vedanta unit Cairn India Holdings approves investment In AvanStrate

Investment is tune to $158 mn; the Japan-based LCD glass substrate manufacturer is currently majority owned by Carlyle Group

Vedanta Ltd arm Cairn India holdings Limited (CIHL) has acquired controlling stake in Japan-based LCD glass substrate manufacturer AvanStrate Inc (ASI) for $158 million.

Through a company statement, Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta informed the contours of the deal that comprise acquisition of $151 million existing debt of ASI from banks, acquisition of just over 51 percent stake of ASI for a nominal consideration from the Carlyle Group, an extension of a $7 million loan to ASI.

Currently, Carlyle Group owns a majority of ASI. "Completion of the acquisition is conditional on consents being obtained from ASI's existing lenders and is expected to occur prior to 31 December 2017," said Vedanta in its release.

ASI is a leading global manufacturer of glass substrates for small and medium-sized high-resolution thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) panels, which are used in screens for devices including smartphones, satellite navigation systems in vehicles, cameras, flat screen televisions, tablets and laptop personal computers. Glass substrate is made of silicon and metallic oxides, including aluminium oxides.

Further to Vedanta's focus on providing basic materials for the development of India and other emerging markets, this transaction provides optionality to the growing market of materials for technology applications. ASI is particularly focused on supplying glass substrate to small and medium-sized TFT LCD panels, used in many mobile devices, and India has the significant market potential for such devices, said the company.

Japan-based ASI also has operations in Korea and Taiwan. Nomura has acted as the financial advisor to CIHL on this transaction, informed Vedanta.

Debt-laden ASI had revenue of $169 million, EBITDA of $75 million and gross assets of $625 million. The consolidated net profit of ASI for the financial year ended March 31, 2017, was $1.4 million.