Johnson Matthey (JM) has lowered the price for the sale of its Catalyst Technologies (CT) business to US conglomerate Honeywell to £1.3bn.

The UK chemicals company, which had previously reached an agreement of £1.8bn for the sale, also confirmed it has agreed to extend the long stop date for satisfaction of the closing conditions to 21 July 2026.

JM said that in extending the long stop date, the companies agreed to amend the financial terms of the transaction to reflect CT’s business performance during 2025/26.

The FTSE 250 company said this includes the deferral of key sustainable solutions licensing projects and reduced profitability from the supply of catalysts due to a “challenging market environment”.

JM is also now expecting to return £1bn of net sale proceeds to shareholders following completion of the deal, comprising £800m through a special dividend with share consolidation, and £200m through an on-market share buyback programme.

In a statement, the company said: “JM continues to make good progress on the implementation of its new cash-focused business model and is on track to deliver 2025/26 performance in line with guidance.

“This includes group underlying operating profit growth at the higher end of a mid single digit percentage range, and positive free cash flow that is materially higher than last year.”

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