CVC completes £2bn Smiths Detection acquisition
CVC Capital Partners has completed its £2bn acquisition of Smiths Detection, taking one of the world's largest airport-screening technology businesses into private-equity ownership.
The transaction completed on 30 June through Skyshield UK Bidco, a company established specifically for the acquisition. The deal had been announced in December 2025, but the capital behind it only became visible across the UK acquisition structure in late July.
The business CVC is buying
Smiths Detection develops scanners and threat-detection software for airports, ports, borders and other critical infrastructure. It employs around 3,400 people, including more than 500 research and development staff and 1,100 field-service engineers. According to CVC, its systems serve 47 of the world's 50 largest airports.
In its final full year as part of Smiths Group, the business generated £963m of revenue and £122m of headline operating profit. The £2bn enterprise value equates to 16.3 times operating profit and 12.5 times headline EBITDA of £160m.
For CVC, the opportunity is to grow a newly independent security-technology company through further investment in product development, engineering and service. Smiths Detection said the change of ownership would give it greater scope to invest in innovation across aviation, ports and borders, urban security and chemical-threat detection.
What the sale means for Smiths Group
The sale is also a major step in Smiths Group's plan to become a more focused industrial engineering company centred on flow management and thermal solutions.
Smiths received more than £1.9bn in net cash proceeds and plans to return £1.5bn of that to shareholders through a buyback. Together with the £1.3bn sale of Smiths Interconnect to Molex, the group has completed disposals with a combined enterprise value of £3.3bn. Smiths confirmed completion and the planned capital return on 30 June.
How the acquisition was funded
The Skyshield companies show how the equity was routed through CVC's acquisition structure:
| Company | Share consideration recorded | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Skyshield Group Holdco | £976.4m | Top-level holding company |
| Skyshield Group Midco | £976.3m | Group financing layer |
| Skyshield UK Midco | £562.1m | UK holding company |
| Skyshield UK Bidco | £561.9m | Buyer of Smiths Detection |
Those entries total just over £3.1bn, but they do not represent £3.1bn of separate investment. Much of the same capital is counted again as it moves from one company to the next. The more useful headline is that close to £976m entered at the top of the structure, with roughly £562m routed through the UK acquisition leg.
Two associated vehicles, Skyshield EUR Debtco and Skyshield USD Debtco, point to euro- and dollar-denominated financing alongside the equity. The public filings do not disclose the final debt package.
The structure is technical, but its purpose is straightforward: it financed CVC's purchase of a global security company whose scanning hardware and detection software sit inside some of the world's busiest transport hubs.
Methodology: deal value, completion proceeds and operating figures are from public statements by Smiths Group, CVC and Smiths Detection. Capital figures are aggregate consideration from SH01 filings made on 24 July 2026 for shares allotted on 30 June. Because capital is passed between related companies, the figures across the structure should not be added together as separate investment.