The respective Boards of Max Speciality Films (MSF) and Max Ventures and Industries Limited (MaxVIL) have approved the induction of Toppan Printing of Japan (Toppan) as a joint venture partner with a 49% stake in MaxVIL’s flagship manufacturing business—MSF. The new partnership with Toppan, a multinational corporation with interests in information and communication, living and industry, and electronics, will help strengthen the speciality films business and serve as a testimony of MaxVIL’s commitment to expanding its manufacturing business.
Established in 1900, Toppan will serve as a strategic partner in MSF and share their expertise in managing a global speciality films business as well as leverage their global sales network. Under this partnership, Toppan, which is a large global buyer of BOPP products (MSF’s key offering), will also serve as a customer of MSF. As part of the partnership, Toppan will invest approximately Rs 200 crore, through a combination of primary and secondary share issuance. The investment by Toppan is subject to customary closing conditions, including but not limited to shareholder or other approvals. MSF has undertaken key expansion efforts in the past 12-18 months. The MSF Board last year approved an investment of Rs 250 crore to set up its fifth BOPP line, which will help augment production capacity by a significant 60% to over 70,000 tons per annum. A substantial portion of the proceeds from this transaction will be utilized for MSF’s on-going capacity expansion.
The transaction will also result in MaxVIL’s treasury corpus growing to Rs 290 crore, including the expected capital infusion of Rs 148 crore from the New York Life subsidiary and MaxVIL promoters, announced in January 2017.
Sahil Vachani, managing director of MaxVIL said, “Toppan’s industrial experience of over 100 years, their expansive global sales network and cuttingedge technological capabilities make them an ideal partner for us at this juncture in MSF’s journey.”
Speaking on the development, Shingo Kaneko, president and representative director of Toppan Printing Co. Ltd, said, “We see enormous opportunity in India and in this business
specifically. MSF has emerged as a front-runner in their unwavering commitment towards R&D and constantly innovating and upgrading technology to stay at the top of the leader-board across a wide field of applications from labelling to flexible packaging. We are excited to partner them and help the business scale new heights.”
MaxVIL is the newest entity in the Max Group of companies that came into existence after the erstwhile Max India Group was demerged into Max Financial Services Limited, Max India Limited and Max Ventures and Industries Limited (MaxVIL). MaxVIL has four distinct business verticals Max Speciality Films (manufacturing), Max Estates (real estate), Max Learning (education) and Max I (providing intellectual and financial support to highpotential start-ups). MaxVIL is listed both on BSE and NSE. Other investors in MaxVIL include International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Reliance Mutual Fund. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including and not limited to receipt of shareholder approval.
