This Research Note examines the acquisition of Smiths Detection, a global vendor of threat-detection and security-screening technologies for airports, by CVC, a private equity firm.  We highlight the transaction details, Smith Detection’s overall business, vertical markets, acquisitions, AI partnerships and the strategic rationale of CVC before providing a Memoori view of the transaction. Transaction Details Under pressure from U.S. activist investor Engine Capital, Smiths Group plc announced on 31st January 2025 that it would separate Smiths Detection via demerger or sale and reposition Smiths as a high-performance industrial engineering company focused on technologies in flow management and thermal solutions. On 3rd December 2025, CVC announced that it had agreed to acquire Smiths Detection for £2.0 billion. Subject to completion of information and consultation processes with the works council of Smiths Detection France SAS and customary regulatory approvals, completion of the proposed transaction is expected in the second half of 2026. Smiths Group reported that the […]