Williams Holdings

Williams Holdings was a major British conglomerate. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Williams Holdings
IndustryConglomerate
Founded1982
Defunct2000
FateDemerged
SuccessorChubb
Kidde
HeadquartersDerby, United Kingdom
Key people
Sir Nigel Rudd (co founder and chairman)
Roger Carr (CEO)
Brian McGowan (co founder)

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]

In 1988, Williams Holdings acquired Berger, Jenson and Nicholson Ltd from Hoechst AG.[2]

It started to focus on security in the 1990s, selling its paints business to Akzo Nobel in 1990.[3] In February 1997, it bought Chubb Security for $US2.1 billion.[4] It changed its name to Williams plc in 1998 and sold Yale Lock Company to Assa Abloy in March 2000.[5]

Demerging

The company demerged into Chubb and Kidde in July 2000.[6]

References
  1. Nigel Rudd, My best deal Archived 8 September 2012 at archive.today Management Today, 1 April 1991
  2. "Berger, Jenson and Nicholson, Paint Makers Records".
  3. "Flint Group: Significant dates". Archived from the original on 1 October 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  4. Williams of Britain to buy Chubb Security New York Times, 15 February 1997
  5. Swedish firm to buy Williams's Yale Lock Unit Los Angeles Times, 8 March 2000
  6. Williams plunges 14% as margins shrink Independent, 19 July 2000


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