Smiths Group sells IVF product for £140m

Technology company Smiths Group has sold its IVF product to US-based multinational CooperSurgical for £140m.

The disposal of the Wallace product, part of Smiths Medical, is part of the FTSE 100 company's strategy to focus its portfolio on market leading positions of scale in its chosen markets, with the proceeds reinvested in the company.

As part of the company’s disposal programme, it has sold £60m of revenue and released over £170m of capital for reinvestment in opportunities that offer sustainable growth and value creation for the company.

Chief executive Andy Reynolds Smith said: "This disposal demonstrates our ongoing commitment to focus our portfolio on building scalable technology differentiated leadership positions in our chosen markets.

“Wallace has a long and distinguished history in IVF and Smiths is proud to have played a role in developing the business over our 24 years of ownership. I am confident that Wallace will continue to develop as part of CooperSurgical's broader offering in this area."

Wallace, which introduced its first embryo replacement catheter more than 30 years ago, contributed £20m of revenue for the year ended 31 July, which was 2% of Smiths Medical’s revenue, with about £12m of operating profit.

CooperSurgical supplies women's health clinicians with products and treatment options and through its Origio business, it delivers assisted reproduction technology solutions.