Johnson Matthey Cuts CT Sale Price by More than a Quarter to £1.33bn

Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and the Independent contributed to this report.

Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey has slashed the price for its Catalyst Technologies unit – the CT business – in a surprise downgrade that knocked the wind out of its shares.

The buyers, Honeywell International, will now pay about £1.33 billion (including debt) for CT, down roughly 26% from the £1.8 billion deal struck back in May. That earlier price would have handed investors roughly £1.6 billion net; after the cut, Johnson Matthey now expects to return about £1 billion to shareholders via an £800 million special dividend and a £200 million buyback.

Why the haircut? Management blamed a rough 2025/26 for CT: key sustainable-solutions licensing projects were pushed out, and margins took a hit on catalyst supply because market conditions got tougher. Bloomberg and other outlets had also reported Honeywell was flirting with walking away over regulatory headaches and missed milestones – pressure that likely helped nudge the price lower.

The timetable got stretched, too. The firms pushed the approval and close deadline back from Feb. 21 to July 21, with an option to extend to Aug. 21, and they said they now expect the sale to wrap by the end of August. Markets reacted fast: Johnson Matthey’s stock plunged about 16% in early trading on the news.

This deal was supposed to be a big part of Johnson Matthey’s turnaround plan – shedding CT to double down on cleaner-air tech and platinum-group metal chemistry – and the May announcement had helped the shares rally nearly 60% over the past year. The trimmed price and extended deadline are a setback, but the company still plans to deliver cash to investors and refocus the business.

Short version: buyer and seller re-cut the deal to reflect a softer CT performance, shareholders get a smaller payout than expected, and the market gets a reminder that M&A math can change fast when milestones slide and regulators loom.