Crane Co, a provider of products and services to sectors including cash handling in the casino industry, says it has agreed to dispose of its engineered materials business, for US$360 million, to a Mexican firm, Grupo Verzatec SA de CV.
Crane Co had total debt of US$1.19 billion as of the end of the first quarter. On April 15, the company repaid a US$343-million, 364-day, term loan, it said in its quarterly results filed in the United States on May 3.
Max Mitchell, the group’s president and chief operating officer, was cited as saying in a Monday filing, that although engineered materials was an “outstanding business”, it could be expanded more effectively with a “new owner”.
The announcement added that Crane Co’s fluid handling segment had been renamed “process flow technologies”.
Notwithstanding the pending divestiture of engineered materials, Crane Co said it was maintaining its guidance for 2021 earnings per diluted share from continuing operations, at US$5.75 to US$5.95.
The group’s 2021 adjusted earnings per share guidance – excluding special items – is US$5.65 to US$5.85.


