Smiths Group mulls offers for polymer seals business

LONDON (April 18)—Engineering conglomerate Smiths Group P.L.C. is weighing offers for its $630 million polymer seals business, a spokesman for the group confirmed. Smiths Group has had "several expressions of interest in the business in the last few months, but the board has made no decision yet to sell," the spokesman said. "We will only do so if we find someone with a better plan for the business." Considerable restructuring of the Polymer Sealing Solutions business in the last two years means this is "a good business to keep," the spokesman said. Among the changes are new factories in Poland and Malta. Smiths is discussing the operation with a number of unidentified interested parties, some are investment groups and some are from the trade, he said. Polymer Sealing Solutions' four units—Forsheda, Busak+Shamban, Dowty Automotive and Shamban Aerospace Sealing Systems—employ 4,000 globally.