Highlights – LSE:IMI

• IMI completed the sale of Truflo Marine to Fairbanks Morse Defense at a £225m enterprise value.

• The valuation includes a £5m IFRS Lease liabilities adjustment, giving a US GAAP equivalent of £220m.

• IMI says the disposal aligns its portfolio more closely with its Energy, Automation and Healthcare megatrends.

• Truflo Marine's extra contribution helped IMI raise its 2026 Earnings guidance in its October trading update.

Nearly a year after agreeing terms, IMI (LSE: IMI) has handed over the keys to its submarine valves business. The FTSE 100 engineering group confirmed at 07:00 on 9 November 2026 that it had completed the sale of Truflo Marine to Fairbanks Morse Defense, closing a transaction first announced on 24 November 2025 and valued at £225 million on an Enterprise value basis.

Completion confirmed

According to the announcement, the sale completed on 6 November 2026. The £225 million enterprise value includes a £5 million adjustment for lease liabilities under IFRS, and IMI put the US GAAP equivalent at £220 million. The company said the disposal aligns its portfolio with the megatrends it has chosen to focus on: Energy, Automation and Healthcare.

What Truflo Marine does

When the deal was agreed, IMI described Truflo Marine as "a leading provider of mission-critical valves and actuators to naval submarine programmes worldwide". Chief Executive Roy Twite said at the time: "We are pleased to announce the sale of Truflo Marine to Fairbanks Morse Defense." He added that the buyer "values their expertise". Lazard acted as financial adviser to IMI on the transaction, with Addleshaw Goddard as legal adviser.

A longer road to completion

The timetable stretched beyond the original plan. In November 2025, IMI expected the deal to complete in mid-2026, subject to regulatory and other approvals. By its third-quarter trading update on 29 October 2026, the expected timing had moved to the fourth quarter, from the third quarter previously. That October update also showed how much the Business was still contributing while IMI waited.

Earnings effect in 2026 and beyond

In the same trading update, IMI raised its 2026 guidance for adjusted Basic Earnings Per Share to a range of 137p to 143p, from 136p to 142p, principally reflecting the additional contribution from Truflo Marine ahead of its disposal. Process Automation order intake rose 19% in the third quarter and 14% year to date, figures that already excluded Truflo Marine. Group organic Revenue grew 2% in the quarter and 4% over the first nine months.

With the business now gone, that extra earnings contribution will not recur in future periods. IMI had not detailed an intended use of the proceeds in the completion information available at the time of writing, and full-year 2026 results, due on 9 March 2027, are scheduled to include guidance for 2027. IMI's indicative assumptions for that year, published in October, included a net interest charge of about £23 million and a weighted average share count of around 231 million, both excluding any further acquisitions or buybacks.

Capital moves running alongside

The disposal sits beside other portfolio and Capital activity. On 7 October 2026, IMI agreed to buy iSMA CONTROLLI for €63 million, a bolt-on intended to strengthen its smart-connected offering for smaller commercial buildings seeking better energy efficiency. The group has also been running a £500 million share buyback programme, and its Transport business remains under strategic review.

Points investors may track

Shareholders following engineering names on the UK stock market may look for any statement on the use of the sale proceeds, the effect of Truflo Marine's exit on 2027 guidance, the outcome of the Transport review and the integration of iSMA CONTROLLI. For reference, IMI shares were trading at 2,910p at 08:45 GMT on 29 October 2026, up 0.21% on the morning of the trading update.

A narrower, more focused portfolio

Completion closes a chapter for a business that served naval submarine programmes and passes the unit to a defence-sector buyer. For IMI, the exit concentrates the group further on the three themes its management has placed at the centre of its strategy.