Divestment of Composites and Defence Systems

Press Release

Morgan Advanced Materials plc

21 November 2018

Morgan Advanced Materials announces divestment of its Composites and Defence Systems business

Morgan Advanced Materials plc ("Morgan") announces that it has completed the sale of its Composite and Defence Systems ("C&DS") business to 11046896 Canada Inc., a partnership between The Pasqua First Nation of Saskatchewan, Canada and James Kempston, who will serve as the Chief Executive Officer of C&DS.

The sale values the business at £2.5m on a cash-free, debt-free basis with £2m cash received on completion and the balance to be paid by 21 January 2019.  The transaction has been structured to leave Morgan with the economic benefit of certain assets, most notably the principal freehold property associated with the business, as well as certain liabilities relating to the exit of parts of the business.  These liabilities were provided for in the interim results for the half year ended June 2018.

In the year ended 31 December 2017, the C&DS business generated a £1.1m headline operating loss on £21.0m of sales. 

The divestment follows Morgan's announcement of 23 April 2018 to exit the business, and is in line with Morgan's strategy to simplify its portfolio and focus on global technology businesses of scale.

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The next scheduled update is the Group's Preliminary Full Year results presentation on 26 February 2019.