Siegler Corporation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Siegler Corporation was created by a group of investors in 1952 in Chicago, Illinois (incorporated in Delaware) and began operations following the acquisition of the Siegler Heater Corporation in Centralia, Illinois. John G. Brooks (Echo Products, Zenith Radio, and US Army Air Corps) headed up the new enterprise. (Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois).
Contents |
[edit] History
The management team transformed the low-tech space heater company into a viable corporate platform for acquiring multiple successful small companies. This strategy of "buying growth" coupled with sound management proved successful. At the end of its first year the corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Siegler Corporation quickly distinguished itself as one of the first conglomerates. These were a new breed of business entities that were characterized by a variety of diverse business interests or operating divisions held or controlled by a central management. This management component was typically the only thing these divisions had in common. Examples of conglomerates are LTV (Ling Temco Voight), TRW (Thomson Ramo Wooldridge, and AMF.
Siegler continued its program of non-hostile acquisitions of target companies. In 1956-1957 when it added Hallamore Electronics of Anaheim, California, and the corporate offices followed to Southern California.
Lear Siegler was created as a result of a merger between the Siegler Corporation (Los Angeles) and Lear Avionics Inc. (Santa Monica) that was concluded in 1961, though leadership was substantially from the Siegler side of the merger. By 1970 LSI had 56 divisions in 17 countries operating in six major business areas--commercial products, fabricated products, avionics, power equipment, systems and services, and real estate. After further mergers LSI products and services are now offered by URS Corporation
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Planning for Growth and Profit: The Success Story of Lear Siegler, Inc, Newcomen Society (1970) ASIN: B000K5P39I
- Fifty times around the sun: History of Lear-Siegler, Smiths Defense Systems North America, by Gordon L Olson, Public History Services (1994) ASIN: B0006QR4UW
