This feature explores spin-offs or de-mergers, looking at the rationale for them and how they have performed, and asks if they can be a promising hunting ground for investors.One of the UK?s largest recent spin-offs was GSK?s (GSK) demerger of its consumer healthcare division in 2022.GSK reportedly rebuffed a £50 billion offer from personal goods giant Unilever (ULVR) to buy the division, named H

Investors in automotive products maker Dowlais (DWL) were drowning their sorrows as the shares hit their lowest level since the firm spun out of conglomerate Melrose Industries (MRO) last year and listed as a stand-alone entity.The group?s underlying performance for 2023 was steady if not spectacular, helped by a banner year for UK vehicle production with output topping one million units for the f

Sales and margins increasedAuto sector growing stronglyCharge for Powder Metallurgy unitAutomotive products group Dowlais (DWL) posted a steady increase in sales and earnings last year and announced a £50 million share buyback.However, the good news was overshadowed by a large impairment charge for the powder metallurgy business which pushed the group to an operating loss of £450 million.The sha

CRH director spends $2.5 millionPersimmon CEO buys over £100,000 sharesMelrose CFO snaps up over £99,000 sharesDean Finch, chief executive of UK housebuilder Persimmon (PSN), bought 7,621 shares at £13.15 for a total value of £100,216 on 12 March, after which he owns 24,078 in the company.Finch may be taking advantage of the 7% share price fall over the past month after Persimmon reported a 5

European equities were largely lower on Monday afternoon, with the FTSE 100 the worst of the bunch, as focus turns to key inflation readings from the US and China this week.Investors are looking for US inflation to cool, which would solidify Federal Reserve interest rate cut expectations. For China, however, inflation heating up would suggest that the Asian nation?s economy is beginning to fire. T

Melrose director offloads nearly £280,000 sharesShaftesbury Capital director snaps up 50,000 sharesVianet director splashes out after HSBC fundingDavid Lis, non-executive director at Melrose Industries (MRO) sold 30,000 shares at 541p for the total value of £162,400 on 16 November.The sale comes a day after Lis sold 21,400 shares at 542p for the total value of £115,914 on 15 November.The dispos

Stock prices in London opened tepidly on Thursday, amid both positive and negative developments from blue-chip companies.The FTSE 100 index opened up 1.63 points at 7,488.54. The FTSE 250 was down 25.89 points, 0.1%, at 18,650.59, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.33 points, 0.2%, at 716.90.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 747.26, the Cboe UK 250 was flat at 16,152.02, and the Cboe Small Companies was

Spin-offs, demergers and disposals are often good news for investors, although it's not often a firm sees its share price rise when it has to pay someone to take assets off its hands, especially when those assets were previously thought to be earnings positive.In the case of hospitality firm Restaurant Group (RTN), however, that is exactly what happened.The group, best known for its Wagamama chain

Stocks in London were a mixed bag around midday on Thursday, as the FTSE 100 ticked higher after Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey hinted at a peak in interest rates.The FTSE 100 index was up 25.33 points, or 0.3%, at 7,451.50. The FTSE 250 was virtually flat at 18,445.22, and the AIM All-Share was down 4.34 points, or 0.6%, at 732.64.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 741.94, the Cboe UK 250 w

Full-year guidance upgraded£500 million buyback brought forwardFounders set to leave in 2024A key part of industrial turnaround specialist Melrose Industries' (MRO) mission has been to improve profitability. It is therefore encouraging to both management and shareholders that margin improvements are a driving force behind today's upgrade to guidance.This accompanied a strong set of first half res

Automotive engineer Dowlais (DWL) is poised to announce its maiden results as a public company after its spin-off from industrial turnaround specialist Melrose (MRO) in April 2023.Shareholders will be hoping the first-half numbers on 12 September help provide a boost after a bumpy start to life on the market as an individual entity, the shares falling around 25% from their 143.5ppeak.Five years on

Investec Bank CEO sells shares as he readies for retirementDowlais CEO snaps up shares with a value just under £500,000 Beazley non-executive director sells £60,000 worth of sharesRichard Wainwright, CEO of the banking arm of Anglo-South African wealth management and international banking group Investec (INVP), sold two tranches of shares on the 19 June - 110,144 at 459p worth a total of £505,0

The name Dowlais (DWL) may not mean a huge amount to you but there is a good chance something it has made is sitting on your driveway.An April 2023 spin-out from industrial turnaround specialist Melrose (MRO), Dowlais is effectively the car engineering part of GKN. An institution in the UK industrials and engineering space, GKN was controversially purchased by Melrose for £8 billion in 2018.Melro

Melrose CEO dumps 2 million sharesIncoming M&C Saatchi chair buys £249,000 sharesJudges Scientific director cashes in £94,500 sharesSimon Peckham, chief executive of UK manufacturing company Melrose (MRO), sold 2,000,000 shares at 525p for a total value of £10.5 million on 14 June causing the company's share price to slide on the news.The sale, which leaves Peckham with only half his shareholdi

- Smith & Nephew director snaps up shares after strong first quarter results- London Stock Exchange director buys more than £1 million worth of shares- Dowlais directors go on a spending spreeRupert Soames, non-executive director medical equipment manufacturer Smith & Nephew (SN.), has snapped up more than £100,000 worth of shares in the wake of its recent first quarter update.On 27 April Soames

- Contract with GKN Aerospace worth $100 million over five years- Set to commence in 2023- Represents first entry into the USMicro cap aerospace firm Velocity Composites (VEL:AIM) may not have been too familiar to many investors before now but it will be on the radar of a fair few after today's big contract win.The company has snared a contract with GKN Aerospace (owned by Melrose Industries (MRO)

- Stakeholders to get shares in new company- Melrose to focus on aerospace business- Last of Nortek businesses sold offFTSE 100 engineering group Melrose (MRO) surprised the market with the news it would spin off most of the businesses acquired in the controversial takeover of GKN back in 2018.Shareholders will receive shares in what is known for now as DemergerCo, an automotive platform business,

- Company to buy back £500 million worth of shares- Follows sale of last business associated with 2016 Nortek acquisition- Briefing investors on GKN Aerospace todayIndustrial outfit Melrose (MRO) is clearly in no mood to hang around. Just two days after announcing the £520 million sale of ergonomic products maker Ergotron, the company has unveiled a £500 million share buyback.Investors have rea

- US private equity group buys Ergotron- Sale raises £520 million and finalises Nortek exit- Focus now on 'rest of the group'Industrial conglomerate Melrose (MRO), which buys manufacturing firms in order to improve their performance, announced it had sold the Ergotron business for $650 million (£520 million).The sale, to funds managed by The Sterling Group, completes the disposal of all the asse

Leading UK shares ended lower on Wednesday but off their weakest level after Russian president Vladimir Putin said the country would increase the amount of gas it will send to Ukraine via Europe, reining in surging gas prices that contributed to market weakness.At the close, the UK benchmark FTSE 100 was 81 points, or 1.15%, lower at 6,995.87, above the session low of 6,946.The more UK focused FTS