For Honeywell (HON) shareholders, there was almost no downside to the spin-off of Garrett Motion (GTX), as it eliminated a highly cyclical business and allowed the company to offload asbestos liabilities tied to the Bendix brake business. It wasn’t such a great thing for Garrett, though, as the company is now straining under the combined pressure of the COVID-19 downturn, the need to make future investments in technology, an already-high debt load, and those asbestos liabilities.
Now Garrett has informed investors that it is “exploring alternatives” for its balance sheet, and