Manufacturing group plans its next acquisition

Manufacturing turnaround specialist Melrose Industries has its eye on another acquisition as it continues to seek opportunities after the sale of Elster last year.

It sold Elster to Honeywell International for £3.3bn, a deal which completed in January 2016.

Melrose paid £1.1bn last August for US-based Nortek, trebling the size of the group, which also includes Brush.

The Warwickshire group has told the stock market it “is seeking another acquisition to create further value for shareholders and is confident of finding a suitable opportunity in due course”.

It added: “Current trading in Melrose is in line with expectations. Consistent with the commentary given at the year end results announcement in March, Nortek continues to improve its performance and the power generation market remains difficult for Brush.”

Its share price has risen from 141p last August, following a right issue which raised £1.6bn, to a close of 240p last night, giving it a market value of £4.5bn.