17th Oct 2025 08:30
(Alliance News) - Smiths Group PLC on Friday announced the sale of Smiths Interconnect to Molex Electronic Technologies Holdings LLC, part of Wichita, Kansas-based Koch Industries Inc, at an enterprise value of GBP1.3 billion.
The London-based engineering group said the sale price for its electronic connectors business represents 15.1 times headline earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of GBP86.1 million for financial year 2025, which ended July 31.
Analysts at Jefferies said it is a "good price" and "marks a significant milestone in the group's strategy of unlocking value across its portfolio of businesses."
Smiths Group said the deal demonstrates "clear progress" against the strategic actions announced in January, designed to improve shareholder returns.
"The sale of Smiths Interconnect is a notable step forward in the strategy to become a more focused industrial engineering company," it said.
Completion of the transaction is expected in the second half of financial year 2026.
Smiths Group's financial year runs to July.
The firm said it remains "committed" to returning a large portion of disposal proceeds to shareholders while maintaining an investment grade credit rating.
The ongoing GBP500 million share buyback is expected to be completed by the end of calendar 2025.
Smiths Group shares were up 1.4% at 2,398.00 pence each in London on Friday morning. The wider FTSE 100 index was down 1.5%.
In January, the company announced plans to sell Smiths Interconnect by the end of 2025 and separate Smiths Detection, its threat detection arm, either by UK demerger or sale.
On Friday, Smiths Group said 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.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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