Williams Holdings
 | |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
|---|---|
| Fate | Demerged |
| Successor |
Chubb Kidde |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Derby, United Kingdom |
Key people |
Sir Nigel Rudd (co founder and chairman) Roger Carr (CEO) Brian McGowan (co founder) |
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 Crown Berger, a paints business, in 1987, 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 Akzo Nobel in 1990.[2] In February 1997, it bought Chubb Security for $2.1bn.[3] It changed its name to Williams plc in 1998, and was sold to the Yale Lock Company to Assa Abloy in March 2000.[4]
Demise of the business
The company demerged into Chubb and Kidde in July 2000.[5]
References
- 1 2 3 Nigel Rudd, My best deal Management Today, 1 April 1991
- ↑ Flint Group: Significant dates
- ↑ 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