Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Racal Electronics plc
Fate Acquired by Thomson-CSF
Successor Thales plc
Founded 1950
Defunct January 2000
Location Weybridge, United Kingdom

Racal Electronics plc was a British defence electronics firm purchased by Thomson-CSF (now Thales Group) in 2000. Thomson-CSF was a major electronics and Defense contractor. In December 2000 it was renamed Thales Group. The Thales Group ( is a French Electronics company delivering mission-critical information systems and services for the Aerospace, Defense Weybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Thomson-CSF was a major electronics and Defense contractor. In December 2000 it was renamed Thales Group. The Thales Group ( is a French Electronics company delivering mission-critical information systems and services for the Aerospace, Defense 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.

History

Racal was created in 1950 as Racal Ltd, the name being derived from the partners RAymond Brown and George CALder Cunningham. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The first factory was located in Isleworth, West London. Isleworth (ˈaɪzəlwɜːθ is a suburb located in the London Borough of Hounslow alongside the River Thames in West London. West London is the area of Greater London to the west of Central London. Although Racal had won a Royal Navy contract to build and supply a variant of the American Collins Model 51-J Radio Receiver, they were not granted a license to build these sets by Collins Inc. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) Rockwell Collins Inc ( is a large United States -based international company headquartered in Cedar Rapids Iowa primarily providing Aviation and Information This meant that Racal had to design and build a radio receiver from scratch. The result was the justly famous 'RA17' - in production from 1955 to at least 1973 - designed in cooperation with Dr. Trevor Wadley and utilising his famed Wadley Loop circuit. Trevor Lloyd Wadley, (1920 – May 21 1981 was a South African Electrical engineer of the 20th century The Wadley Loop circuit was designed by Dr Trevor Wadley in the 1940's and was first used for a stable Wavemeter

In 1979, Racal bought Decca Radar forming Racal-Decca. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) The Decca Company, a British gramophone manufacturer that as Decca Records, released records under the Decca label contributed to the British war effort during the Second Racal-Datacom conducted business in the United States.

In 1983, Racal competed for one of the original licences to operate a cellular network in the UK, both it and British Telecom were successful. Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) BT Group plc (formerly British Telecommunications plc) which trades as BT (ˌbiːˈtiː bee tee) (previously known as British Telecom and still Racal established the Racal Telecom (now Vodafone) subsidiary. Vodafone is a Mobile network operator headquartered in Berkshire, England, UK. In 1988, 20% of Racal Telecom was floated on the London Stock Exchange. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) The London Stock Exchange or LSE is a Stock exchange located in London, England. This would lead to the situation where Racal Electronics was valued at less than its shareholding in Racal Telecom. Sir Ernest Harrison (Racal Chairman) demerged Racal Telecom in October 1991 forcing a positive valuation on the rest of Racal (colloquially known in the City as "the rump"). For London as a whole see the main article London. The City of London is a geographically Vodafone would later become the largest mobile network in the world and the highest valued company on the FTSE 100. The FTSE 100 Index (ˈfʊtsiː footsie, abbreviated Financial Times Stock Exchange Index) is a Share index of the 100 most highly capitalised Immediately following the demerger, Williams Holdings launched a takeover bid for Racal. In business a takeover is the purchase of one company (the target) by another (the acquirer, or bidder) The bid, valued at £740m, failed.

In 1984, Racal bought Chubb, a security company that manufactured safes and locks. Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Chubb Locks is a brand name of the Mul-T-Lock subsidiary of the Assa Abloy Group which manufactures high security locking systems for residential and commercial applications In 1992, Chubb was demerged from Racal and was subsequently taken over by Willams Holdings in 1997 for £1. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) 3bn.

Racal re-established a telecoms division with a major government contract in 1988 and the acquisition of British Rail Telecommunications in 1995. See also Rail transport in Great Britain, National Rail, Network Rail This article is about the defunct entity "British Railways" This division of the former nationalised industry owned telecoms infrastructure laid across the rail network. This telecoms division was sold to Global Crossing for £1 billion. Global Crossing Limited is a Telecommunications company that provides Computer networking services worldwide

In 1994, Camelot Group won the franchise to operate the UK National Lottery, Racal had a 22. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) Camelot Group plc Note A are the operators of the UK National Lottery. 5% share. After one of the founder shareholders, GTECH, was bought out by Camelot this stake increased to 26. 67% which Thales continues to hold.

In 1995 Racal expanded its defence businesses with the acquisition of the Thorn Sensors Group from Thorn EMI. Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics music defence and retail In 1998 all of Racal defence businesses were reorganised under Racal Defence Electronics Ltd:

With the 2000 takeover Racal became Thomson-CSF Racal plc and later Thales plc with the renaming of the larger Thomson-CSF to Thales Group. The Thales Group ( is a French Electronics company delivering mission-critical information systems and services for the Aerospace, Defense

References

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic