1st Apr 2026 09:56
(Alliance News) - Smiths Group PLC on Wednesday said it had completed the sale of Smiths Interconnect for GBP1.3 billion.
The London-based engineering company in January 2025 had reported plans to sell its electronic connectors business by the end of the year, and to separate Smiths Detection, its threat detection arm, either by UK demerger or sale.
In October, Smiths said it was selling Smiths Interconnect to Lisle, Illinois-based Molex Electronic Technologies Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Koch IP Holdings LLC.
The deal gives Smiths Interconnect an enterprise value of GBP1.3 billion - roughly 15.1 times headline earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of GBP86.1 million for financial 2025, which ended July 31.
Smiths plans to return GBP1 billion of the proceeds to shareholders through a buyback scheme which is currently underway. The remainder "will be used to invest in value creative growth opportunities for Smiths, and to further reinforce its strong balance sheet," it said.
Meanwhile, Smiths had said in October that it "continues to progress" with both the sale and demerger processes in parallel for Smiths Detection. If completed, the exit from Smiths Detection will leave the group focused on the John Crane and Flex-Tek businesses.
Chief Executive Roland Carter called the Interconnect sale "an important moment" for the firm "as we focus Smiths as a high-performance industrial engineering company".
The group currently operates across the energy, security & defence, space & aerospace and general industrial sectors.
Smiths shares rose 2.8% to 2,344.00 pence on Wednesday morning in London.
By Holly Munks, Alliance News reporter
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