Hampson Industries sells US operation after entering administration

STRUGGLING aerospace business Hampson Industries, which called in the administrators yesterday, has sold off its US operation.

US private equity firm American Industrial Partners has acquired the business.

Administrator Simon Ian Kirkhope said “The sale of the US businesses to AIP concludes a prolonged period of uncertainty and provides a stable platform for the profitable US operations to move forward.”

The Brierley Hill firm’s board told the Stock Exchange yesterday lunchtime that it had filed a notice of intention to appoint Kirkhope and Chad Griffin of FTI Consulting LLP as joint administrators of the company pursuant to the Insolvency Act 1986.

The administrators have applied for the firm’s listing on the London Stock Exchange to be cancelled from 8am tomorrow morning.

TheBusinesDesk.com reported yesterday morning that Hampson had sold off the entire share capital of its Wigan-based BHW Components business in a deal worth £2.37m as it looks to cut its debts as quickly as possible.

Receivers orchestrated the sale of the shares to LNB UK Ltd for £2,365,000 in cash, of which £2,215,000 has already been paid. The remaining £150,000 will be paid within 30 days of the deal completing.

Hampson abandoned plans to sell off BHW in the summer owing to “significant production rescheduling by a key customer” and the decision by another customer to retain operations in-house which it had originally planned to outsource to BHW.

Shares in Hampson were suspended in July as the company said it was unable to publish its annual accounts due to concerns over the financing and strategic options available to the group.

It also shelved plans to progress the sale of the business because no suitable offers for the group were received.

It had been in talks with an unnamed third party for the potential disposal of its troublesome US operations but nothing has ever been agreed.

However, it has repeatedly warned shareholders that there is unlikely to be any value remaining in their holdings.