James Fisher shares jump on RMS disposal

Shares in James Fisher and Sons surged on Friday after the marine, oil and gas services group announced the sale of its RMSpumptools division to US oilfield tech firm ChampionX for £90m.

The company said the disposal is in line with its strategy to simplify and focus its portfolio through the sale of non-core assets.

The deal price values RMS at 7.4 times estimated EBITDA, and proceeds – which fall to £83m when accounting for cash-like and debt-like items and estimated transaction costs – will be used to reduce leverage and beef up the balance sheet.

RMS specialises in electric submersible pump or ESP artificial lift, subsea connector and renewable energy technology.

"While RMS is a leader in its markets, it is a product business operating in the oil and gas industry that has minimal synergies with the rest of the group and does not strongly align with James Fisher's strategy of focusing on maritime services to its core Energy, Defence and Marine Transport markets," James Fisher said in a statement.

Chief executive Jean Vernet said the transaction, which is unanimously agreed by the board to be in the best interest of shareholders, "represents good value [...] reflecting RMS's strong performance in recent years".

James Fisher's share price was up 9% at 269.18p by 0851 GMT.