Smiths Group divests John Cranes Bearings business for $35m

Smiths Group plc (“Smiths Group” or the “Company”) today announces that it has reached an agreement to sell John Crane’s Bearings (‘Bearings’) business to Miba AG, a private Austrian company, for an enterprise value of $35m. The transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain regulatory conditions and is expected to complete by the end of March 2018.

This divestment is part of the ongoing corporate programme to concentrate the portfolio on scalable market leading positions in the Company’s chosen markets. The proceeds will be reinvested in attractive growth opportunities for the Company.

The Bearings business manufactures and maintains hydrodynamic bearings for the power generation, oil & gas and general industrial markets. Bearings reported total revenue of $56m in the year ended 31 July 2017, with a 12% EBITDA margin and represented c.5% of John Crane’s total revenue.

Andy Reynolds Smith, Chief Executive of Smiths Group, said:

"This divestment shows further progress in focusing Smiths Group’s portfolio as we reposition ourselves for long-term growth in markets where we can build leading positions.

This is the second disposal in John Crane having sold Artificial Lift in September 2016. John Crane is now a more focused business leveraging its technology leadership and service network of over 200 sites across the globe.”