Hill & Smith Holdings PLC (LSE:HILS) has agreed to sell its French galvanizing and steel lighting column operations for £61.5mln.
Following completion of consultations with the French works council, the FTSE 250-listed company exercised a previously revealed put option and entered an agreement with a consortium comprising ZINQ France SAS and Sofigalva SAS to sell the France Galva SA business.
In a previous announcement, Hill & Smith revealed its reasons to offload.
France Galva has been a profitable and cash-generative part of the group until now but the forecast growth rates do not meet its long-term growth ambitions and France's operating margins are below the company average.
The transport infrastructure maker's board unanimously recommended the disposal to shareholders as it considers it in their best interest, Hill said in a statement.
Completion is subject to shareholder approval as the disposal is classified as a related party transaction under listing rules.