Williams Holdings was a major British conglomerate. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
History
The company was established by Nigel Rudd and Brian McGowan in Derby in 1982 to acquire under performing businesses.[1] Its first major acquisition was J & HB Jackson, a Coventry based metal business, in 1985.[1]
The company went to acquire Walpamur, a paints business, from Reed International in 1987,[2] and Berger, Jenson and Nicholson, another paints business, from Hoechst AG in 1988. The two businesses were combined to create Crown Berger.[3]
The vehicle division, which operated nineteen car dealerships, was demerged as Pendragon PLC in November 1989.[4]
Williams Holdings bought Pilgrim House in the United States (owners of Kidde) for £331m in 1988 and Yale & Valor, a locks and gas fires business, in 1991.[1]
It started to focus on security in the 1990s, selling its paints business to Nobels Industries in 1990.[5] In February 1997, it bought Chubb Security for $US2.1 billion.[6] It changed its name to Williams plc in 1998 and sold Yale Lock Company to Assa Abloy in March 2000.[7]
Demerging
External links
References
- Nigel Rudd, My best deal Management Today, 1 April 1991^
- Crown Paint – Brushstrokes of History retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Berger, Jenson and Nicholson, Paint Makers Records National Archives, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Bottom Line: Good timing at Pendragon The Independent, 23 March 1993, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Flint Group: Significant dates retrieved 2009-02-01^
- Williams of Britain to buy Chubb Security New York Times, 15 February 1997^
- Swedish firm to buy Williams's Yale Lock Unit Los Angeles Times, 8 March 2000^
- Williams plunges 14% as margins shrink Independent, 19 July 2000^