$DPC $CRS By Aaron Kirchfeld, Swetha Gopinath and Bailey Lipschultz
12/17/2025 11:50:23 [BN]
(Bloomberg) -- Doncasters Group, an almost 250-year-old UK metal engineering group that supplies Boeing Co., has selected banks for a US initial public offering that could value the firm at more than $4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Leeds-based company has picked advisers including Morgan Stanley and Jefferies Financial Group Inc., as well as Barclays Plcand Moelis & Co., to manage the share sale, the people said. The offering could take place as soon as in 2026, the people said, asking not to be identified because discussions are private.
The firm could raise between $500 million to a $1 billion in the share sale, the people said. Doncasters makes specialist metal products such as airfoils, blades and stud welding used for airplanes, industrial gas turbines and car production, according to its website.
No final decisions have been made, and more banks could be added to the roster, the people said. Representatives for Doncasters, Barclays, Jefferies, Morgan Stanley and Moelis declined to comment.
Investors are likely to be drawn to Doncasters IPO by two main drivers: the burgeoning AI sector, which has led to a surge in data-center development, boosting demand for power generation and customers such as Siemens Energy AG. Besides that, a shortage of parts for engines in the aerospace industry is also raising demand for the casting parts made by Doncasters with Safran SA and Boeing.
The company is one of the key forging suppliers alongside Precision Castparts, which is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and Howmet Aerospace Inc., which is worth about $81 billion including debt and trades at roughly 35 times its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The global aerospace forging industry is forecast to grow to almost $74 billion by 2034 from almost $34 billion in 2024, helped by demand for air travel and defense spending, according to a report by Research & Markets.
A listing would mark a significant turnaround for Doncasters, which completed a debt restructuring in 2020 after a takeover by its lenders from the now-defunct Dubai International Capital. Under Chief Executive Officer Mike Quinn and Non-Executive Chairman Dirkson Charles, the company has grown through investments and acquisitions, including Uni-Pol in 2022.
Doncasters traces its roots to 1778, when Daniel Doncaster started the forging tools company in Sheffield, England, which soon after became the heart of the UK’s steelmaking industry. It now has about 20 locations and 3,000 employees in Europe, America and Asia who, according to its website, are “turning metals into motion.”
(Updates Moelis’ comment in fourth paragraph.)
