Melrose returns £200m to its shareholders

WARWICKSHIRE-based manufacturing turnaround specialist Melrose is to return £200m to its shareholders and has promised it remains well placed to deliver even more value.

The Alcester company is using part of the net proceeds from the £365m disposal of its Bridon business last year to provide the basis for the payout. The deal is equivalent to 18.7p per existing ordinary share.

The balance of the net proceeds is being used to pay down Melrose’s borrowings.

Christopher Miller, chairman of Melrose, said: “Realising value in our businesses and returning all or part of this value to shareholders is a fundamental part of the Melrose ‘buy, improve, sell’ strategy. Having more than doubled our original equity investment in Bridon, I am delighted to be able to propose a further £200m return of capital to our investors.

“With this latest return, Melrose has created approximately £2.5bn of total value for shareholders against net investment of approximately £170m since our first acquisition in 2005. We look forward to creating further value in the future through ongoing improvement in our existing businesses and through carefully targeted acquisitions.”