ATLANTA, Oct. 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chart Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLS) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to divest its oxygen-related products business within the BioMedical segment to NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. for $133.5 million. The sale is expected to close within the fourth quarter of 2018, following the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory requirements.
The strategic decision to divest the oxygen-related products business reflects Chart’s strategy and capital allocation approach to focus on its core capabilities and offerings. The sale of the oxygen-related products is a reallocation of capital from that business to a very strategic addition to Chart, VRV s.p.a., for which a definitive acquisition agreement was announced last week. In conjunction with this reallocation of capital to our core businesses, the realignment of our segmentation geographically will support the significant growth opportunities and cost synergies that VRV brings to Chart as well as the anticipated 5 to 7% organic growth in 2019.
Chart’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Jill Evanko, commented “This is a logical next step for our business and a strategic decision that will further enable us to concentrate on our core businesses that share common customers, technologies and end markets. We are excited to have a strategic buyer in NGK Spark Plug, in particular given their commitment to support and expand their oxygen-related products business.”
A portion of the BioMedical segment related to Chart’s cryogenic products and technological expertise (Cryobiological) is excluded from the sale. Chart’s Cryobiological product line will be managed by and report through the Distribution & Storage Western Hemisphere segment, effective immediately.
Credit Suisse served as exclusive financial advisor and Winston & Strawn LLP served as legal advisor to Chart.
Chart will hold a conference call on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 at 9:30am eastern time to provide further information on the strategic capital deployment and business alignment. A supplemental deck will be posted on the Chart website at www.chartindustries.com under “investor relations” on the morning of the conference call. This webcast can be accessed through the Company's website, www.chartindustries.com. Participants may also join the conference call by dialing (877) 312-9395 in the U.S. or (970) 315-0456 from outside the U.S. Please log in or dial in five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time.
