After two months of talks, engineering conglomerate Smiths Group (SMIN) has failed to sell its medical division for a second time, unable to agree "acceptable terms". In fact, it repeated its explanation from its first rejection two-and-a-half years ago, referring to "the quality and highly cash generative nature of Smiths Medical, both standalone and in the context of the group as a whole".
Clearly, Smiths' reputation as a breakup target has been tarnished, and there is a danger those interested in the medical division, or others, might be put off. Without knowing more it's hard to say, but chief executive Philip Bowman has always said he’d like to break up the business and he does have history here. Hopefully, we'll hear more at the full-year results on 18 September.