Graphite to Acquire US Co for $18.6 mn

Graphite India Limited, India’s largest graphite electrode producer, is acquiring 46 percent stakes in General Graphene, a US-based company located in Knoxville (Tennessee), in a cash deal of $18.6 million. The US company will be acquired through Graphite International BV, the Dutch subsidiary of Graphite. The US company and the Dutch company have already signed a definitive agreement to this effect. Graphite’s interest in the US company stems from the fact that the latter has developed a breakthrough proprietary technology which would allow them to produce large area, low-cost graphene sheets industrial volumes for commercial applications. The US company is aligned with the Indian company’s core business segment of carbon and graphite.

Confirming the development, top company officials said that the investment to acquire the US company will be made in multiple tranches over 2 to 3 years, based on the achievement of agreed milestones in the process of commercial production of graphene sheets.

Interestingly, graphene is a two-dimensional sheet of pure carbon structured in a single layer of carbon atoms. Though it is chemically identical to both graphite and diamond, it is remarkably different. It is a very versatile material with its key properties being the strongest, thinnest and lightest material known. Graphene is also more conductive, both thermally and electrically, than any other material and is corrosion resistant, flexible, transparent and impermeable. The material is currently not available in commercial volumes. General Graphene is working on the development of the same under an exclusive licensed patent from a renowned US-based laboratory.

An upbeat K K Bangur, chairman of Graphite India, said that the company is extremely pleased to partner with General Graphene in the development and commercialization of this disruptive and high-end technology product. Graphene has some of the unique properties including being the strongest, thinnest and lightest material known. It is, therefore, expected to throw up new opportunities in high tech applications, further driving efficiency and optimizing costs. Graphite India’s investment in General Graphene is part of its overall, longstanding strategy of focusing on high-end technologies. The move is expected to deliver meaningful growth in the long-term, once commercialization of the product is achieved. It will also result in enhanced value creation for all the stakeholders, he said.