Melrose agrees 627m pound sale of Crosby and Acco

10th Oct 2013 07:01

Melrose Industries said it was selling Crosby and Acco to private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for 627.3m pounds. The FTSE 100 group, which aims to buy manufacturing businesses that it can improve and sell on, had bought Crosby as part of its £1bn takeover of engineering group FKI in 2008. Melrose Chief Executive Simon Peckham said: "The disposal of Crosby perfectly demonstrates Melrose's strategy to 'buy, improve, sell' and the value it delivers to shareholders."Crosby, which makes lifting and rigging products such as shackles, swivels and clamps, made profits of $94.1m in 2012 on sales of $405.8m in 2012.Peckham added: "Melrose has invested significantly in the business and the vision of its management team." He added: "we are confident that under the ownership of KKR the Crosby success story will continue."The deal is said to have attracted offers from other private equity firms such as Warburg Pincus and CCMP Capital as well as trade buyers including Columbus McKinnon. It is subject to obtaining anti-trust clearance in the US but Melrose expects to complete the sale later this year. It said it would use the proceeds to pay down debt and fund a return of capital "in due course".TB