By bizn_fun 
The corporate veterans who turned Melrose Industries into one of Britain’s most prominent public companies are setting their sights on a brace of US-based targets which could cost as much as $3bn (£2.2bn).
Sky News has learnt that Rosebank Industries is in talks to buy two of private equity firm American Securities’ portfolio companies: CPM, a supplier of processing equipment for sectors such as food and renewable energy; and MW Industries, which makes engineered precision components for industrial users.
City sources said on Monday that Rosebank, which went public on AIM in July 2024, was in detailed talks to acquire both companies for an aggregate price of about $3bn.
One insider cautioned that either or both transactions could yet fall apart.
If the deals are agreed, however, they would trigger an equity-raise by Rosebank of about £2bn to fund the acquisitions and pay down some of the companies’ existing debts.
The ambitious double-swoop by Rosebank comes almost exactly a year after the company confirmed that it was in talks to acquire Electrical Components International from Cerberus Capital Management for more than £1.5bn.
After a brief hiatus triggered by volatile market conditions, Rosebank eventually struck a definitive deal to buy ECI last summer.
It was the first strand of a new chapter in the prolific dealmaking careers of Rosebank’s founders.
Simon Peckham, the former Melrose chief who is now CEO of Rosebank, launched the new vehicle in 2024 after months of deliberations about whether to structure it as a private or listed company.
His former Melrose colleagues, Justin Dowley and Christopher Miller also sit on Rosebank’s board. Collectively, they are regarded as one of the leading teams of industrial executives in Europe.
Last month, Rosebank added Liam Butterworth, a former colleague, as the group’s chief operating officer.
Their “buy, improve, sell” mantra saw them acquire a string of industrial assets at Melrose, the most notable of which was GKN, the historic British engineering group.
That was then broken up, and Dowlais, its former automotive arm, was taken over by an American rival.
Among the other industrial names that Melrose acquired were Nortek, Dynacast, and Elster.
It was the £8bn takeover of GKN in 2018 which thrust Mr Peckham and his colleagues into the public spotlight, however, as the target company fought a bitter, and ultimately unsuccessful, battle for its independence.
Rosebank is employing the same approach to executive remuneration as the one that saw Melrose’s top team receive windfalls worth hundreds of millions of pounds over two decades.
Shares in Rosebank have more than halved over the last year, however, leaving it with a market capitalisation of £1.37bn.
On Monday morning, they were trading at around 338p.
A Rosebank spokesman declined to comment.