The owners of Gloucestershire engineering giant, Renishaw, which employs 2,200 staff in the county and 4,400 worldwide, have decided not to sell after all.
It is a decision which brings to an end a period of uncertainty for the firm’s future which started on Tuesday 2 March 2021 when the octogenarian owners and founders of the Wotton-under-Edge firm revealed their plans.
But after four months and a number of offers for the business, Sir David McMurtry and John Deer, who founded the firm in 1973, have walked away from a potential payday worth hundreds of million of pounds to each of them.
In a joint statement Sir David, executive chairman, and Mr Deer, non-executive deputy chairman, said: ‘At the start of this process we made it very clear that, with the board, we were focused on ensuring that we find the right new owner for our business.
‘Whilst the formal sale process did not result in a new owner for Renishaw, we are satisfied that it ensured a thorough and rigorous process that enabled us to evaluate a wide range of potential buyers.
‘We remain fully committed to Renishaw and have indicated to the board that we have no intention of selling our shares on the market for the foreseeable future.’
‘Renishaw is a very special business with a highly successful business model and a very exciting future. We would like to thank all our employees for their dedication to the company.’
Renishaw, which employs 4,400 worldwide, said it had seen ‘a strong trading performance in the final quarter of the financial year ended Wednesday 30 June 2021 and finished the year with a record order book’.
It added: ‘We now expect revenue for the year ended Wednesday 30 June 2021 to be in the range of £562 million to £567 million and adjusted profit before tax to be in the range of £116 million to £121 million.’
By Andrew Merrell
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