Johnson Matthey has agreed to sell its Catalyst Technologies division to Honeywell for a reduced enterprise value of £1.325 billion, down from the original £1.8bn announced in May 2025, after weaker-than-expected performance in the business during 2025/26.
The revised deal reflects what JM described as a “challenging market environment,” with deferred sustainable solutions licensing projects and lower profitability from catalyst supply dragging on the unit’s results.
Johnson Matthey shares were down 14% at the time of writing.
The two companies have also pushed back the completion deadline from 21 February to 21 July 2026, with a possible further extension to 21 August if outstanding antitrust approvals are not secured in time. Completion is now expected by the end of August.
As a result of the lower sale price, JM has trimmed its planned shareholder returns to approximately £1 billion in net proceeds, down from the previously announced £1.4 billion. That will be split between an £800 million special dividend with share consolidation and a £200 million on-market buyback programme.