IMI completes £690m disposal of beverage and merchandising divisions
BIRMINGHAM-based engineering group IMI has completed the disposal of its Beverage Dispense and Merchandising divisions.
The group sold off the division in October to a subsidiary of US investor Warren Buffett’s multi-national conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway for £690m.
The firm said it would return £620m of the money received to shareholders and put the remaining £70m into the IMI UK Pension Fund.
The group said the deal would help it become a more streamlined business with a strong focus on growth.
The proposed return of cash will require IMI shareholder approval at a general meeting. It is expected that a circular containing details of the proposed share scheme, the action recommended to be taken by IMI shareholders and a notice of general meeting will be sent to IMI shareholders around the end of this month.
To support the group’s more focused business portfolio, Brendan Colgan, managing director of Fluid Power, and Peter Spencer, managing director of Indoor Climate, have been appointed to the group’s executive committee of which Roy Twite, executive director and managing director of Severe Service, is already a member. All three divisional managing directors will report directly to Mark Selway.
Selway, chief executive of IMI, said: “IMI is now a specialist flow control group entirely focused on industrial end markets. This strong foundation creates greater opportunities for technical and operational synergies and provides an excellent platform for future growth.”
