Rolls-Royce to sell Michell Bearings business

RNS Number : 5079L

Rolls-Royce Holdings plc

28 April 2015

 



28 April 2015

ROLLS-ROYCE TO SELL MICHELL BEARINGS BUSINESS TO

BRITISH ENGINES LIMITED

Rolls-Royce has today confirmed its intention to sell its Michell Bearings business to British Engines Limited for a cash consideration of £12.6m. Subject to licence consents, the sale will be completed in the autumn.

Michell Bearings has been part of the Rolls-Royce Marine business for the past 15 years and is a premium designer and manufacturer of hydrodynamic bearings for a wide range of marine and industrial applications.

Michell Bearings consists of a business based in the UK, located in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and a 51% shareholding in Michell Bearings (India) Pvt Ltd, a non-wholly owned subsidiary company based in Bangalore.

Mikael Makinen, Rolls-Royce, President - Marine, said: "The agreement announced today will allow Rolls-Royce to concentrate on the core areas of our Marine business where we can add most value.

"It will also present Michell Bearings with fresh opportunities by aligning the business with British Engines, which has a long history in the North East of England.

"We will offer full support to employees who are impacted by the change and we wish British Engines and its employees all the very best with the future development of the Michell Bearings business."

Consideration is subject to the value of cash generated by Michell Bearings until the sale completes. The sale proceeds will be utilised for working capital requirements. Michell Bearings reported gross assets of £13.3m (before minority interests) as at 31 December 2014 and generated consolidated profits (before minority interests) of £5.9m in the year to 31 December 2014.

About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc

1.   Rolls-Royce's vision is to create better power for a changing world via two main business divisions, Aerospace and Land & Sea. These business divisions address markets with two strong technology platforms, gas turbines and reciprocating engines. Aerospace comprises Civil Aerospace and Defence Aerospace. Land & Sea comprises Marine, Nuclear and Power Systems.

2.   Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 120 countries, comprising more than 380 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces, 4,000 marine customers including 70 navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.

3.   Our business is focused on the 4Cs:

·      Customer - placing the customer at the heart of our business

·      Concentration - deciding where to grow and where not to

·      Cost - continually looking to increase efficiency

·      Cash - improving financial performance.

4.   Annual underlying revenue was £14.6 billion in 2014, around half of which came from the provision of aftermarket services. The firm and announced order book stood at £73.7 billion at the end of 2014.

5.   In 2014, Rolls-Royce invested £1.2 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 31 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.

6.   Rolls-Royce employs over 54,000 people in more than 50 countries. Over 15,500 of these are engineers.

7.   The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills. In 2014 we employed 354 graduates and 357 apprentices through our worldwide training programmes. Globally we have over 1,000 Rolls-Royce STEM ambassadors who are actively involved in education programmes and activities; we have set ourselves a target to reach 6 million people through our STEM outreach activities by 2020.

For further information, please contact:

Investors:                                                                             

Jilinda Crowley                                                                       

Acting Director - Investor Relations                                       

Rolls-Royce plc                                                                     

Tel: [phone]                                                      

[e-mail] 

Media:

Richard Wray

Director of External Communications

Rolls-Royce plc

Tel:      [phone]

[e-mail]

www.Rolls-Royce.com 

 

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