Cobham buyer Advent ‘mulls £2.5bn float of industrials firm Rubix’
The private equity giant which is in the process of buying British defence firm Cobham for £4bn is said to be mulling a float of another of its UK assets.
Advent International, the US investment firm, has reportedly hired advisers to prepare the stock market debut of Rubix Group, a distributor of industrial repair kits, that could give it a value of more than £2.5bn.
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An initial public offering (IPO) would most likely take place next year, however Advent’s potential exit from Rubix could also attract firms looking to buy it instead.
Advent bought Brammer in late 2016, before merging it with French firm IPH and renaming it Rubix in 2018.
A spokesman for Advent declined to comment.
The news was first reported by Sky News.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been hired to lead to flotation, sources told the broadcaster.
The company is expected to record core profit of about €300m next year, which could see its IPO value surpassing the £2.5bn mark.
The Chesire-based firm has about 8,000 employees, and is a supplier to large industrial customers in the automotive industry.
It also supplies companies working in the cement and utilities sectors.
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Separately, Advent is still waiting for a response from the government on whether it will be allowed to buy Cobham.
The deal has sparked concerns about national security, amid a US firm buying one of the UK’s most valuable defence companies.