Yule Catto, the Essex headquartered polymer business, has sold its pharmaceuticals division, Uquifa, to the Indian firm Vivimed Labs.
Yule will receive £35m for Urquifa, the company which makes active pharmaceutical ingredients for the wider pharma industry. It operates three manufacturing sites, two in Spain and one in Mexico, employing a total of 390 people.
Vivimed will pay £28.6m in cash, with a further £6.4m to be paid in three years time. The proceeds will be used to pay down Yule's debt.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Commenting on the disposal, Yule Catto's chief executive Adrian Whitfield said:
"I am delighted to be able to announce this disposal. Following the PolymerLatex acquisition we completed earlier this year, this marks the final step in a long process of transforming Yule Catto into a substantial highly focussed Specialty Polymer business."
Today's announcement indicated the deal would be slightly dilutive to Yule's earnings, but its shares were down 0.18% in early trading. Over the year to date Yule Catto has fallen 16%.
BS
-
The top stocks in the FTSE 100After a year of strong returns for the UK’s flagship index, which FTSE 100 stocks have posted the best performance in 2024?
-
A junior ISA could turn your child’s pocket money into thousands of poundsPersuading your child to put their pocket money in a junior ISA might be difficult, but the pennies could quickly grow into pounds – and teach them a valuable lesson about money
