From AIM to the FTSE100
The team at Montfort has advised FTSE100 industrial engineering group Melrose since its IPO on AIM in 2003. Since then, we have continued to provide financial and corporate PR advice, contributing to the growth of the company from a £13 million business to the £10 billion business it is today. We have advised Melrose on all of its numerous acquisitions and disposals, including most recently its £8 billion hostile bid and acquisition of FTSE100 British engineering company GKN Plc and the disposal of its Elster metre business to Honeywell for £3.3 billion in 2015, which resulted in the return of over £2 billion of capital to investors.
While each transaction has had its own communication challenges, the bid for GKN was the most hotly contested takeover in recent history, holding city, media and political audiences captivated for over four months. As PR advisors, our role was to assist the company in creating a favourable climate of opinion to ensure a successful shareholder vote and to win the support of all stakeholders including GKN investors, Melrose investors, long-only funds and short-term merger arb traders, sell-side analysts, press and HMG. Following behind-the-scenes conversations and negotiations with ministers and civil servants, as well as full-scale campaigning amongst leader-writers, business and industry editors and sell side analysts to convince them of the overwhelming benefits of Melrose ownership, Melrose secured the majority of the GKN shareholder vote in favour of its bid on 29th March 2018.
Since acquiring GKN, Melrose has been transformed into a FTSE100 industrial powerhouse and one that, as a product of its enlarged scope and success, has become the object of intense government, regulatory and media scrutiny. Water-tight and sophisticated communications around issues such as corporate governance, diversity, environmental and social responsibility, restructurings, employee rights, and many more besides, are critical for such a large turnaround business in the public eye and Montfort continues to play an integral role in advising the board and senior management on how to handle these issues.