Melrose Industries PLC (LSE:MRO, OTC:MLSPF) is to sell ergonomic business Ergotron to private-equity firm The Sterling Group for £520 million in cash.
Ergotron is the last of the assets remaining from the industrial turnaround investor's US$1.4bn takeover of North American heating and air conditioning business Nortek Inc in 2016.
Melrose’s business model involves buying manufacturing companies and turning them around for a sale.
In 2016, it bought Nortek in a take-private deal, delisting its shares from Nasdaq.
Ergotron designs and sells ergonomic products for use in healthcare, learning and business. It had underlying earnings of £62m in 2021 and gross assets of £617m as of 31 December.
The deal is expected to complete in the third quarter, pending US antitrust approvals.
In April last year, Melrose agreed to sell Nortek’s home air conditioning business to Chicago-based Madison Industries for approximately £2.62bn.
“The sale of Ergotron is the final step in our Nortek ownership cycle, capping what has been a very successful acquisition for Melrose shareholders," chief executive Simon Peckham said. "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.”
Shares gained 3.3% at 137.90p in opening deals.