Melrose to sell ergonomics business for £520m

Birmingham manufacturer Melrose Industries has agreed to sell its Ergotron business for £520m to The Sterling Group.

Ergotron designs, manufacturers and distributes ergonomic products for use in a variety of working, learning and healthcare environments, with gross assets of £617m and adjusted operating profit of £58m.

Having sold the Nortek Air Management and Nortek Control businesses last year, Ergotron is the last of the businesses remaining from the Nortek acquisition in 2016.  

On completion, Melrose says it will have more than doubled shareholders’ initial investment, whilst transforming the Nortek businesses themselves.     

The firm made investments into increasing R&D, implementing better operational practices, developing new products and aimed to build stronger customer relationships.

Simon Peckham, the Chief Executive of Melrose said: “The sale of Ergotron is the final step in our Nortek ownership cycle, capping what has been a very successful acquisition for Melrose shareholders.

“We will have more than doubled shareholders’ equity investment in Nortek and have transformed the businesses themselves.  Our attention now remains firmly on achieving the same result for the current Group.” 

Completion is expected to occur in Q3 2022 and is conditional upon customary US antitrust approvals.