VERTEX Material Holdings Inc, a Malaysian advanced-materials company and deep-tech unicorn, has unveiled a 15-year US$2.2 bil (RM8.98 bil) offtake agreement with Sky-Dweller Construction LLC as its US-based commercial partnership expands into India with Vertex’s proprietary copper-composite products.
Building on the partners’ existing distribution arrangement across the US and Canada, the agreement establishes a long-term commercial foundation for Vertex’s planned manufacturing scale-up while broadening the international markets served by the partnership.
Sky-Dweller is part of Aurelius Materials, a US-based construction and materials-supply company operating across commercial, residential and industrial construction, strategic procurement as well as the distribution of metals and specialised materials.
Operating as an international construction-materials procurement and sourcing platform, Aurelius Materials will support market development, supplier coordination, procurement and logistics under the wider collaboration.
For Vertex Material, the partnership pairs its Malaysian materials-development capabilities with an established commercial partner capable of managing customer relationships, specification matching and international distribution.
Sky-Dweller’s expansion into India targets a rapidly growing industrial market. According to International Copper Association India, copper demand in the country rose 12% year-on-year (yoy) to 2.1 million tonnes in FY2026 led by infrastructure build-outs alongside growth in the automotive and construction sectors.
Through Sky-Dweller’s network, the partners aim to supply Vertex’s copper-composite material across industrial manufacturing, electrical and energy infrastructure, and electronics-related thermal-management applications in India.
“Our task is to turn the material we have developed here in Malaysia into products that global manufacturers can readily adopt,” commented Vertex Material’s CEO Chris Lai.
“The expansion into the Indian market will further increase the viability of the US facility. This US$2.2 bil offtake provides a solid foundation for that next stage in making Vertex Material an industry player globally.”
Added Lai: “The offtake-agreements allows Vertex Material’s proprietary copper composite material to be supplied to India which broadens the commercial opportunities we can pursue through the partnership, thus complementing our established distribution footprint in North America.”
Targets 2027 Nasdaq listing
The agreement addresses a structural challenge facing global industry: meeting surging material demand across data centres, AI (artificial intelligence) application, electrification, EV (electric vehicle) and renewable energy resources while addressing the global constrain in copper supply.
In its Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected that that expected mine supply from existing and announced projects could fall approximately 25% short of primary copper requirements by 2035.
Rather than attempting to replace pure copper across all uses, Vertex Material’s approach is to supplement conventional copper supply by reducing the amount of pure metal required in suitable applications.
The company uses a proprietary formulation and powder-metallurgy process to engineer copper-composite materials tailored to specific electrical, thermal and mechanical requirements.
It is targeting industrial thermal management, electrical components and metal platings, including data-centre thermal-management systems and electronic where adoption of Vertex Material’s technology will allow these industries to grow significantly.
“The question isn’t simply how much copper a material contains but whether it can do what is required. Our focus is on applications where we can make each tonne of copper go further while meeting the required performance,” enthused Lai.
For us, taking Malaysian technology internationally means turning our local R&D (research & development) into products that industrial buyers globally choose for their performance and efficiency.
The opportunity is to build a global business around that Malaysian know-how, backed by long-term manufacturing capabilities and commercial relationships.
To align production capacity with its growing commercial pipeline in North America and India, Vertex Material is advancing plans for a large-scale manufacturing facility in the US to sit closer to North American industrial customers and raw-material supply networks.
Working with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council to assess sites and incentives, the company is evaluating locations in Arizona – an established industrial hub housing many copper mines, semiconductor manufacturers, materials suppliers and engineering talent.
The proposed facility has an eventual annual production capacity target of one million metric tonnes with commercial production targeted to commence in 2028.
The project remains subject to final site selection, financing and regulatory approvals with the capacity target reflecting full phased scale-up over time.
Vertex Material has an enterprise valuation of approximately US$7 bil (RM28.54 bil) – placing it among Malaysia’s deep-tech unicorns – based on a valuation report prepared by a Malaysian accounting firm.
Building on its Malaysian technological foundation and expanding international commercial network, the company is targeting a proposed direct listing on Nasdaq in 2027 subject to fulfilling all relevant regulatory requirements and approvals. – Oct 28, 2026
