Vickers

Vickers, founded as the Vickers Company in 1828, was a British manufacturer, primarily of military equipment. The name Vickers has lasted through until the 20th Century, albeit by a series of takeovers and mergers.

History

Corporate change

1955 saw the splitting of the company, then named Vickers-Armstrongs, into three groups, including Vickers Aircraft and the company that would become Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. The aircraft design and manufacturing parts of Vickers were merged with the Bristol, English Electric and Hunting aircraft firms into the British Aircraft Corporation in 1960.

Related Topics:
1955 - Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd - Bristol - English Electric - British Aircraft Corporation - 1960

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Vickers acquired the Swedish ship engineering company Kamewa in 1986. The 1990s saw Vickers Shipbuilding enter a period of diversification, notably with the £340m ($609m) acquisition of Ulstein, the Norwegian shipbuilding group in December 1998.

Related Topics:
Kamewa - 1986 - 1990s - Ulstein - 1998

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Acquisition

Vickers was acquired by Rolls-Royce plc in 1999 for £576m ($1.03Bn.) The Vickers marine propulsion product range complemented the Rolls-Royce offering, transforming the group into the global leader in marine power systems.

Related Topics:
Rolls-Royce plc - 1999

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In 2002 Vickers Defence Systems (which excluded the marine business) was bought by Alvis plc, and became its subsidiary, Alvis Vickers Ltd. In March 2004 the board of Alvis plc approved a £309m takeover bid by a direct competitor in the field of military vehicles, the American General Dynamics. However, on June 4, 2004, BAE Systems outbid the American company, offering £355m, following which the board withdrew its support for the General Dynamics bid. BAE Systems already owned almost 29% of Alvis Vickers. Its last minute bid was seen as a move to prevent a strong rival from gaining a significant foothold in its home market. Following regulatory and majority shareholder approval the BAE Systems offer was declared unconditional on 17th August.

Related Topics:
2002 - Alvis plc - Alvis Vickers Ltd - 2004 - General Dynamics - June 4 - BAE Systems

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In September 2004 BAE Systems announced the creation of BAE Systems Land Systems, a new company bringing together the BAE subsidiary RO Defence and Alvis Vickers.

Related Topics:
BAE Systems Land Systems - RO Defence

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Evolution

Although the company was split up in 1955, almost all of these disparate groups are parts of BAE Systems today.

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• Vickers aircraft became part of the British Aircraft Corporation which then became British Aerospace and finally BAE Systems.
• Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd became part of the nationalised British Shipbuilders but was the first to return to the private sector. GEC's Marconi Electronic Systems acquired VSEL in 1995 and this group joined British Aerospace in 1999 to form BAE Systems.
• The remaining parts of Vickers were acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1999, which retained the marine propulsion business. Vickers Defence was sold to Alvis, becoming Alvis Vickers Ltd. Alvis Vickers was acquired by BAE Systems in 2004.

Shipbuilding Timeline of the Vickers name

• 1897: Vickers Sons & Maxim Limited bought The Barrow Shipbuilding Company Ltd
• 1911: Name change of the company to Vickers Limited
• 1927: after merger with Armstrongs, Vickers Armstrongs Limited
• 1955: the shipbuilding side was called Vickers Armstrongs Shipbuilders & Vickers Armstrongs Engineers
• 1968: Name change to Vickers Limited Shipbuilding Group
• 1977: Vickers shipbuilding was nationalised as the Vickers Shipbuilding Group, a member Company of British Shipbuilders, by 1981 it was Vickers Shipbuilding & Engineering Limited, still nationalised.
• 1986 Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd as a subsidiary of British Shipbuilders. From 1986 known as VSEL, by 1999 the name completely disappeared as part of BAE Systems joined again with the descendant of the original parent company.