Smiths Group names medical chief as it pushes ahead with spin off
Division to become a separate UK-listed company by mid-2020
Smiths Group, the UK engineering conglomerate, has appointed a chief executive of its medical division, as part of its plans to spin out the underperforming unit as a new UK-listed company.
On Friday the company said JehanZeb Noor, a former McKinsey partner, would head up Smiths Medical, putting him in charge of overseeing the separation of the division, set to be completed in the first half of 2020.
The appointment marks its latest step towards offloading the struggling medical division, which Smiths had attempted to sell on multiple occasions in recent years.
Talks to sell it to US group ICU Medical fell apart last year after the companies failed to agree terms, as did a similar attempt to sell it to CareFusion in 2013. In March it said it would spin the unit off as a new UK-listed company.
The struggling division makes healthcare products used in hospitals and played a role in the first successful test-tube baby, but has become a drag on the company’s results.
Mr Noor will take up the role next month, after spending three years at Australian packaging group Amcor, where he led its North American healthcare business and ran its global sales to the medical industry. He previously spent nine years at McKinsey.
He said the company would “begin an exciting new chapter when it separates from the wider group” and that he looked forward to leading the process.