Morpho Detection poised for sale to Smiths for GBP 470m
Smiths (LON:SMIN), the listed UK-based engineering group, is believed to be poised to acquire the Newark, California-headquartered security-detection solutions company Morpho Detection, The Sunday Times reported. However, City sources cautioned that the sale, expected to be worth GBP 470m (EUR 600m), is not yet a foregone conclusion, the report said.
Morpho’s owner, the France-based aerospace group Safran (EPA:SAF), has been in sporadic discussions with Smiths for several months, the item reported, noting that Safran last week announced it was in talks with a number of prospective acquirers of Morpho and expects to agree a deal soon. Rival groups including OSI (Nasdaq:OSIS) and L-3 (NYSE:LLL) are believed also to be interested, the report said.
Smiths is advised by Gleacher Shacklock, while Goldman Sachs is running the Morpho auction, the item reported.
Sunday Times