Tomkins sells Stant to 'reshape portfolio'

Tomkins, the UK engineering group, has continued the overhaul of its business, selling off its fourth company in 16 months. The engineer yesterday announced it had sold its subsidiary Stant Corporation, which makes car and industrial parts, to HIG Capital, a US private equity group, for $120m (£61m).

The sale of Stant was part of a strategy to "dispose of businesses that are non-core to the group". James Nicol, Tomkins' chief executive, said: "This is the fourth disposal and... shows good progres against our stated objective... to reshape our portfolio." The company launched its overhaul to focus on businesses in "attractive technological areas" including fuel economy and emissions.