Business
SALE OF SMITHS DETECTION
Smiths Group plc has agreed to sell Smiths Detection to CVC Capital Partners for an enterprise value of £2.0 billion, representing 16.3 times headline operating profit and 12.5 times headline EBITDA for the financial year ending July 31, 2025, with net cash proceeds expected to be approximately £1.85 billion. This sale, alongside the previously announced sale of Smiths Interconnect, repositions Smiths as a focused industrial engineering company specializing in flow management and thermal solutions, with completion anticipated in the second half of calendar year 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and consultation processes. Smiths intends to return a significant portion of the net cash proceeds to shareholders. Disclaimer*
About this update from Smiths Group Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\nTHIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n3 December 2025\nSMITHS GROUP PLC\nSALE OF SMITHS DETECTION\nSmiths Group plc (Smiths) announces that it has entered into an agreement for the proposed sale of Smiths Detection to funds advised by CVC Capital Partners (CVC) (the Purchaser) (the Proposed Transaction). The Proposed Transaction values Smiths Detection at an enterprise value of £2.0bn, representing 16.3x headline operating profit of £122m and 12.5x headline EBITDA of £160m for the financial year ending 31 July 2025. Based on customary adjustments, Smiths expects to receive net cash proceeds of approximately £1.85bn.\nThe Proposed Transaction, in combination with the recently announced sale of Smiths Interconnect, represents significant further progress on the strategic actions announced in January 2025. This repositions Smiths as a focused, high-performance, industrial engineering company, and delivers significant value for all stakeholders.\nSubject to completion of information and consultation processes (the Consultation) with the works council of Smiths Detection France SAS (the Works Council), and customary regulatory approvals, completion of the Proposed Transaction (Completion) is expected in the second half of calendar year 2026.\nRoland Carter, Chief Executive of Smiths, said: \"Today we have reached another significant milestone for Smiths, with the agreement to sell Smiths Detection to CVC for an enterprise value of £2.0bn. This builds on our recently announced sale of Smiths Interconnect and demonstrates strong execution against the strategic actions we set out in January centred on value creation.\n\"We are focusing Smiths as a premium industrial engineering company specialising in flow management and thermal solutions, and today's announcement positions us strongly to deliver enhanced growth and returns.\n\"We thank our Smiths Detection colleagues for their significant contribution to Smiths and their help in reaching this milestone.\"\nProposed Transaction highlights\n· Highly attractive valuation: the enterprise value of £2.0bn represents a multiple of 16.3x headline operating profit of £122m and 12.5x headline EBITDA of £160m for the financial year ending 31 July 2025.\n· ...