Dowlais

Our role

Investec has advised Dowlais on the carve out and sale of GKN Hydrogen, the Italian Hydrogen Storage and Power-to-Power specialist. The business was acquired by Langley Holdings plc and will form part of Langley’s Power Solutions Division.

Investec has held a long-term relationship with Dowlais; first demerging them from Melrose then, as their ongoing Corporate Broker, are pleased to have assisted in unlocking shareholder value through this strategic transaction.

About Dowlais

Dowlais is a portfolio of market leading, high-technology engineering businesses that advance the world's transition to sustainable vehicles. The Dowlais portfolio comprises GKN Automotive, GKN Powder Metallurgy and previously, GKN Hydrogen.

About GKN Hydrogen

Based in Pfalzen, northern Italy, with subsidiaries in Germany and the USA, GKN Hydrogen is pioneering a ‘frontier technology‘ for the safe storage of hydrogen. Formerly part of GKN Powder Metallurgy, a division of Dowlais Group plc, the company has brought together materials science and engineering to create advanced metal hydride compounds.  The technology captures and stores hydrogen in a solid state form at x 16 the density of compressed hydrogen gas without degradation for up to 30 years, according to company literature.  Hydrogen is converted back to a gas when required by heating the hydride to 60°C (140°F). The company has proven the system over 7,000 charge / discharge cycles with 99% efficiency.

About Langley Holdings plc

Langley Holdings plc is a privately owned UK-based engineering and industrial manufacturing group, principally producing capital equipment for diverse markets worldwide. Langley businesses are either outright market leaders, or occupy strong niche positions in their respective fields, providing advanced technologies in a solutions-based approach. The Group operates in three principal areas: Power Solutions, Print Technologies and Other Industrials.

The Group’s operations are based in Germany, Italy, France, the UK and Norway, with 18 production facilities in Europe, the UK and the USA. The Group has more than 90 sales and service subsidiaries worldwide and employs around 5,000+ people.