Babcock International Group
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| Babcock International Group plc
<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:16px 0 16px 0;">Image:Babcock logo.png</td></tr> | |
| Type | Public LSE: BAB |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1 February 1989 (as plc) |
| Headquarters | London, UK
<tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Industry</th><td>Engineering services</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Employees</th><td>9,088 (2005)</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Website</th><td>www.babcock.co.uk/</td></tr> |
Babcock International Group plc is a British based multinational engineering and services company. Although the company has civil contracts, its main business is with public bodies, particularly the UK Ministry of Defence.
[edit] History
Babcock International traces its history back to 1891 when the American Babcock & Wilcox Company established Babcock & Wilcox Limited as its United Kingdom subsidiary. <ref name="established">"Records of Babcock International Group plc." Glasgow University Archive Services</ref>
Babcock & Wilcox Ltd's early business centred around the manufacture of boilers. This expanded as a result of the two world wars and the supply of defence equipment became another major business area. In the 1960s the company became involved in the development of the UK's nuclear power stations.
In 1979 Babcock & Wilcox Ltd was renamed Babcock International Ltd. This company was floated on the stock exchange in 1982, becoming Babcock International plc. In 1987 Babcock merged with FKI Electricals plc, another engineering company to form FKI Babcock plc. In February 1989 FKI Babcock plc demerged to form Babcock International Group plc and FKI plc. <ref name="mergers">"Records of Babcock Industrial & Electrical Products Ltd" Glasgow University Archive Services</ref>
[edit] BAE/VT bid
On 23 March 2006 BAE Systems and VT Group announced to the stock exchange that they were considering a joint bid for Babcock International. It is understood that a successful acquisition would lead to the splitting of Babcock – BAE acquiring the Rosyth yard and VT's Portsmouth facility, while VT would take control of Babcock's support contracts.<ref name="BAEVT">"Babcock demands bid deadline" www.telegraph.co.uk Retrieved 17 April 2006</ref>
[edit] References
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