’s Cross-border Acquisition Was Selected by the Hong Kong Department of Justice as a Benchmark Case of Going Global, Further Enhancing the Value of Its Global Platform

In the capital markets, being recognized as a model case by an official authority is in itself a powerful endorsement and recognition.

In July 2026, the Hong Kong Department of Justice published the Collection of Success Stories: Hong Kong’s Professional Services Supporting Chinese Mainland Enterprises Going Global – 2nd Series on its official website. Global New Material International’s (6616.HK) €665 million acquisition of Merck’s Surface Solutions business (SUSONITY) in Germany is officially included as a successful going global case. This signifies that the transaction was not only a business success but also a case officially endowed with benchmark significance.

In the author’s view, this is by no means merely an honor, but rather a clear signal: Global New Material International’s positioning as a global technology platform for surface performance materials has been clearly established, the advantages of synergies began to manifest, and the company’s intrinsic value and competitive advantages continue to grow stronger.

The acquisition of SUSONITY has been officially recognized and included by the Hong Kong Department of Justice, serving as a model case for cross-border mergers and acquisitions

As one of the three major departments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, case studies and information publicized by the Department of Justice represent the highest level of official recognition of the professionalism, complexity and exemplary effect within the industry of legal services. The Department of Justice’s publication, Collection of Success Stories: Hong Kong’s Professional Services Supporting Chinese Mainland Enterprises Going Global, compiles real-life examples of Chinese Mainland enterprises successfully expanding overseas. The selection criteria are extremely rigorous, with particular emphasis placed on cases that cover the full business life cycle, demonstrate diversity across service sectors, and possess a global investment footprint.

Every enterprise included in this collection is a benchmark case with industrial exemplary significance in dimensions such as cross-border compliance, legal structure and transaction execution.

In an exclusive video interview, Mr Allen W.L. Ng (吳偉倫), Managing Partner at Baker McKenzie, pointed out that Global New Material International is a new materials enterprise that is “born with a global orientation”, with a highly international client portfolio and partner network, and extremely high standards for quality and compliance. The company’s robust corporate governance, transparent disclosure of information and cross-border funding arrangements provided a solid foundation for the smooth completion of this acquisition.

SUSONITY is the new name given to Merck’s Global Surface Solutions Business following its acquisition by Global New Material International.

Over six decades, SUSONITY has established a highly differentiated brand and product portfolio that is deeply embedded within the supply chains and material R&D processes of the world’s leading brands, targeting high-value leading customers. It has built up strengths in premium brands and international certifications across diverse product categories such as effect pigments, cosmetic active ingredients and functional special materials, covering various end-market sectors including automotive coatings, new energy materials and personal care. Key brands include Iriodin®, Xirallic® and Timiron®.

Through the acquisition of SUSONITY, Global New Material International has enhanced its global production network and achieved comprehensive synergies in areas such as production, sales and R&D with the Group’s brands, Chesir and CQV. This is not merely an expansion of production capacity, but rather an elevation of Global New Material International’s status to that of a global new materials technology platform enterprise.

Acquisition and integration results have exceeded expectations with synergies from the global platform being realized intensively

There is a common principle in the capital markets: the value of M&A is not realized at the time of closing, but rather through the synergies following integration. Global New Material International’s latest financial reports and business development are gradually validating this logic.

Looking at GNMI’s 2025 financial report, on the revenue side, the company’s annual revenue reached ¥2.92 billion, representing a substantial year-on-year increase of 76.9%; of this, non-China operations accounted for 43.8%, with the newly consolidated German business contributing 34%; On the profitability side, excluding the impact of one-time factors such as acquisitions and adjustment of asset fair value, adjusted EBITDA for 2025 stood at ¥844 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 37.7%; In terms of regional performance, in 2025, the company’s sales surged by 555.0% year-on-year in Europe and by 1,047.5% year-on-year in North America, indicating that the revenue potential of overseas markets is rapidly expanding.

When evaluating the success or failure of a cross-border merger and acquisition, the organic growth capacity of overseas subsidiaries is the ultimate criteria. This has already been demonstrated in the case of CQV, a South Korean high-end pearlescent materials company acquired by Global New Material International in 2023. The Group and CQV have now achieved deep synergy in areas such as products, market channels and supply chain management. CQV’s profitability improved significantly between 2023 and 2025, with a gross profit margin of 43.04% in 2025, representing an increase of 9.69 percentage points compared with 2023. In the first quarter of 2026, CQV achieved revenue of 15.77 billion South Korean won, representing a year-on-year increase of 7.28%, and a net profit of KWR2.41 billion, up by 18.55% year-on-year. The growth rate of net profit significantly outpaced that of revenue, indicating a continuous improvement in operational quality.

Meanwhile, SUSONITY, which was acquired nearly a year ago, has continued to deliver results in R&D, production capacity and marketing, presenting a strong performance. In May 2026, SUSONITY’s Innovation and Application Centre in Frankfurt officially commenced operations, and in June, its core production sites across Europe, the Americas and Asia achieved steady and full-capacity operation. In the first quarter of this year, SUSONITY initiated its first round of price adjustments for the year and completed a second round of price adjustments of 5-7% in July 2026 across its full product range, covering automotive, cosmetics and industrial pigments. The brand’s pricing power continues to grow stronger, directly boosting profits. At the same time, SUSONITY has accelerated its expansion into emerging markets and established a branch office in India in June this year.

As of today, Global New Material International has established six R&D centers, six application centers and six manufacturing centers worldwide, with a sales network covering more than 150 countries and regions. Its three brands, namely Chesir, SUSONITY and CQV, have formed a comprehensive collaboration matrix spanning R&D, production and regional applications. The value of its global platform has now taken shape.

Of particular note is the recognition from the capital markets: in March 2026, Global New Material International was formally included in the FTSE Russell Global Equity Index; in June 2026, the company once again secured the Technological Innovation Best Practice Award at the Third Sino-European Corporate ESG Best Practice Conference. From index compilers to international ESG rating systems, all stakeholders in the capital markets are, in their own ways, re-evaluating the company’s value.

The surge in emerging application scenarios is driving an upturn in industry prosperity, and management’s intensive share purchases demonstrate long-term confidence

In the capital markets, there is one signal that carries more weight than any research report—namely, when a company’s actual controller uses his or her own money to increase the shareholdings.

Data from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s system of disclosure of interests shows that Su Ertian, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Global New Material International, began a round of intensive stake increase in April 2026. In late June, he once again made another series of substantial stake increase, acquiring 438,000 shares, 519,000 shares and 138,000 shares on 26, 29 and 30 June respectively, and 471,000 shares, 59,000 shares and 652,000 shares on 2, 9 and 10 July respectively, with a total investment of over HK$16 million.

Combined with the multiple rounds of share purchases from April to early July, the latest shareholding stands at 456 million shares with proportion rising to 36.49%. All such share purchases have been disclosed in accordance with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s disclosure requirements.
To view the story of Global New Material International merely as a series of successful cross-border mergers and acquisitions would be far too narrow a perspective. The deeper investment logic lies at the intersection of national strategy and industrial trends.

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan has designated new materials as a key emerging pillar industry to be nurtured, whilst synthetic mica has been explicitly included in the “Encouraged” category of the Guidance Catalogue for Industrial Structure Adjustment. According to publicly available information, Global New Material International is the designated undertaking entity for the “Key Basic New Materials – Synthetic Mica Project” under the Industrial Foundation Reinforcement Program of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and holds the largest market share in synthetic mica globally. The company is not an industry leader in the ordinary sense, but rather an industrial fulcrum underpinning national strategic capabilities.

From an industry trend perspective, while natural mica resources constrained by both environmental protection red lines and depletion, synthetic mica has become a strategic foundational material for ensuring stable operation of high-end manufacturing. With the official commissioning and trial production of the 100,000-ton-annual-capacity synthetic mica production base in Tonglu, Hangzhou in February 2026, Global New Material International has strengthened its self-sufficiency capability in upstream core raw materials.
In terms of technological advantages, Global New Material International has established a full-chain technological innovation platform, mastered core technologies in synthetic mica and pearlescent materials, and participated in the drafting of multiple industry standards. Leveraging a global network, the company has deeply integrated global R&D resources and capabilities. In June this year, the cosmetic-grade synthetic mica powder project passed the scientific and technological achievement evaluation conducted by Zhongke Hechuang (中科合創), further deepening the company’s technological moat. In downstream sectors such as high-end cosmetics and automotive coatings, customers have extremely high requirements on the stability, safety and customization of raw materials, and qualification cycles typically last for 2-3 years. This technological achievement will not only effectively support the company’s further expansion into top customers, but will also continuously enhance its overall bargaining power along the industrial chain.

Data from a Frost & Sullivan’s report indicates that global pearlescent pigment market is projected to exceed ¥50 billion by 2030, with the market for cosmetic-grade pearlescent pigments projected to grow at a CAGR of 18.43% between 2025 and 2030, maintaining a rapid growth trend; Demand for pearlescent pigments in emerging sectors such as eco-friendly coatings, Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) and smart transportation coatings is growing rapidly, with CAGR at 13.53%, 14.64% and 26.98% respectively.

More importantly, the scope of application for synthetic mica is rapidly expanding from traditional pearlescent pigments into strategic sectors such as thermal insulation for new energy batteries, insulation for ultra-high-voltage power transmission and transformation, heat dissipation for AI computing servers, and nuclear power safety—each of these sectors represents a gateway to trillion-yuan markets.

Conclusion: Standing at the crossroads of new materials and globalization, the platform value of Global New Material International continues to manifest
The story of Global New Material International is far more than just a successful overseas M&A case of a Chinese enterprise recognized the Hong Kong Department of Justice. It epitomizes the ascent of “Made in China” to the higher echelons of the global value chain, and serves as a prime example of the rapid rise of the new materials industry under the guidance of national strategies.

Currently, the Group is accelerating its transformation from a regionally leading new materials enterprise into a global platform company specializing in surface performance materials. According to publicly available information, several securities firms have published relevant research reports since the start of this year, raising their target prices and revising their valuation logic for the company. A research report by SDIC Securities noted that, driven by a dual-engine strategy of domestic capacity expansion and cross-border acquisitions, coupled with the favourable global market conditions in the high-end pearlescent pigment sector, the Group possesses ample near-term earnings recovery momentum and a solid mid-to-long-term growth thesis. A “Buy” rating is granted.

Changjiang Securities published a research report noting that, through the acquisitions of CQV and SUSONITY, the Group is moving towards the high-end market and is expected to achieve a “1+1+1>3” effect through channel synergies, product integration, cost optimization and technological complementarity. A “Buy” rating is maintained.

When a company is listed in the official case collection by the Hong Kong Department of Justice, included in index by FTSE Russell, and continues to advance its global integration, its platform value is increasingly recognized by a wider audience.

Global New Material International’s globalization narrative has only just begun. It is not merely a growing pearlescent pigment company, but a global new materials platform taking shape. As the company’s positioning shifts from regional leadership to a global platform and from scale expansion to value upgrading, its growth potential is consequently unlocked. The continued advancement of the company’s fundamentals and global footprint is laying the foundation for its long-term value.