Hampson puts itself on the auction block
AEROSPACE group Hampson Industries said it had put itself up for sale yesterday, nearly three months after saying it was considering strategic options for two of its units.
FTSE-listed Hampson has £54.9m in debt, more than double its current market capitalisation, and has been working to refinance its bank facilities.
The company said it appointed DC Advisory Partners and Sagent Advisors to conduct the sales process for the entire company.
Hampson also said it has received indicative offers for its UK-based BHW Components unit and Indian operations — the businesses put up for sale in November.
The company’s tooling division also suffered a setback due to certain testing and customer approval issues in its largest tooling order, which will result in certain deliveries moving to fiscal-year 2013 instead of 2012.
The group said it was reviewing the overall effects on its revenue and profit in light of the ongoing discussions with the customer.
The company’s shares, which have lost about 80 per cent of their value in the last one year, closed at 7.75p on Monday on the London Stock Exchange. Yesterday they tumbled 48 per cent to 4.03p, giving a market cap of £21.6m.