Divestment and Sale
In the 1980s conglomerates such as BET fell out of favour, and BET extracted itself from some business sectors. Its interests in Thames Television were sold in 1985, and the rest of Rediffusion soon followed. BET sold its 75 per cent shareholding in Humphries Holdings PLC to Lee International PLC for £2.5 million in 1985. Rediffusion Simulation was sold in 1988 to Hughes Aircraft. In 1991 Biffa was sold to Severn Trent Water plc. BET also sold its construction interests.
BET retained the profitable laundry and linen rental businesses, and also the shipping businesses of United Transport.
In 1996 BET was acquired by the much smaller Rentokil, after a hostile take-over bid. The merged company was named Rentokil Initial.
Read more about this topic: British Electric Traction
Famous quotes containing the word sale:
“I hate this shallow Americanism which hopes to get rich by credit, to get knowledge by raps on midnight tables, to learn the economy of the mind by phrenology, or skill without study, or mastery without apprenticeship, or the sale of goods through pretending that they sell, or power through making believe you are powerful, or through a packed jury or caucus, bribery and “repeating” votes, or wealth by fraud.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)