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| Type | Public (LSE: BAB) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1891 |
| Headquarters | London,  United Kingdom |
| Key people | Mike Turner CBE (Chairman) Peter Rogers (CEO) |
| Industry | Support services |
| Revenue | £1,555.9 million (2008) |
| Operating income | £110.2 million (2008) |
| Net income | £69.7 million (2008) |
| Website | www.babcock.co.uk/ |
Babcock International Group plc (LSE: BAB) is a British-based support services company specialising in managing complex assets and infrastructure in safety-critical and mission-critical environments. Although the company has civil contracts, its main business is with public bodies, particularly the UK Ministry of Defence and Network Rail. The company has seven UK operating divisions and overseas operations based in Africa and North America. It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Contents |
History
Foundation and development
Babcock International traces its history back to 1891 when the American Babcock & Wilcox Company established Babcock & Wilcox Limited as its United Kingdom subsidiary. [1]
Babcock & Wilcox Ltd originally made boilers. The UK Company's sphere of operation was defined as 'the world except for North America and Cuba' which was the reserve of the US Babcock & Wilcox.[1] For a few years B&W boilers were built in the Singer Manufacturing Company's Kilbowie Works at Clydebank near Glasgow, Scotland.[1] In 1895 Babcock & Wilcox Ltd opened a new boilermaking works, based on the 33 acre site of the Porterfield Forge on the opposite side of the River Clyde near Renfrew.[1] The Renfrew Works grew to over 200 acres by the 1960s. The workload expanded as a result of the two world wars and the supply of defence equipment became another major business area. In the 1960s the company became involved in the development of the UK's nuclear power stations.[1]
In 1979 Babcock & Wilcox Ltd was renamed Babcock International Ltd. This company was floated on the stock exchange in 1982, becoming Babcock International PLC. In 1987 Babcock merged with FKI Electricals plc, another engineering company to form FKI Babcock PLC. In February 1989 FKI Babcock PLC demerged to form Babcock International Group PLC and FKI plc. [2].
In 1995 a 75% stake in the boiler manufacturing and energy services activities (originally the core businesses of Babcock), by then known as Babcock Energy Ltd, were sold to Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding of Japan, and became Mitsui Babcock Energy Ltd.[3] In 2006 Mitsui sold the company to Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction a subsidiary company of the Doosan Group of South Korea: at that time the UK company was renamed Doosan Babcock Energy Ltd.[4]
In 2000 Babcock took the strategic decision to move away from manufacturing towards maintaining and supporting the critical equipment and infrastructure of customers. In 2002 Babcock was reclassified on the London Stock Exchange from Engineering to Support Services.[5]
Recent years
On 19 June 2002 the Company acquired Service Group International Ltd, a provider of support services in defence and civil markets.[3] It successfully bid for Peterhouse Group plc and on 18 June 2004 its bid was declared unconditional as over 50% of shares were held.[3] On 30 September 2004 it acquired Turner and Partners, a provider of professional services to the telecoms industry.[3] On 9 May 2006 it went on to acquire Alstec Group Ltd, a nuclear and airport services operator,[6] and on 13 June 2006 it bought the high voltage power lines and mobile telecoms business of ABB South Africa (Pty).[3] On 10 May 2007 19 million new shares were placed to fund acquisitions and on 28 June 2007 it acquired Devonport Management Limited, operators of the Devonport Dockyard nuclear submarine and surface vessel facilities.[7]
On 25 July 2007 the UK Government announced that the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, of which Babcock International is a part, would carry out final assembly of two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy at their Rosyth Dockyard.[8] On 7 August 2007 acceptances for the acquisition of International Nuclear Solutions PLC reached 58.9% of issued share capital and a take-over was then completed.[9]
In September 2009 Babcock acquired UKAEA Ltd from the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority(UKAEA) . This extended Babcock’s existing nuclear skills (bringing additional expertise in waste categorisation, decommissioning of high hazard facilities, encapsulation and storage of hazardous materials and transportation of waste) and provided Babcock with its first operational Tier 1 position in the civil nuclear market and a direct relationship with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, complementing its existing Tier 1 position in the military nuclear market. [10]
Operations
The Company is organised into the following divisions: Airports, Defence Services, Rail, Infrastructure Services, Networks, Nuclear Services, Marine, Africa and Eagleton.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Records of Babcock International Group plc." Glasgow University Archive Services
- ^ "Records of Babcock Industrial & Electrical Products Ltd" Glasgow University Archive Services
- ^ a b c d e UK Business Park: Babcock International
- ^ Mitsui to sell Mitsui Babcock to South Korean firm
- ^ Babcock: Chairman's Statement Annual Report 2003
- ^ Babcock has eye for nuclear contracts
- ^ Naval Dockyard bought for £350m
- ^ Shipyard to build carriers' hulls
- ^ Babcock buys INS in agreed takeover
- ^ http://babcock-investors.production.investis.com/~/media/Files/B/Babcock-Investors/pdfs/2009/Acquisition_UKAEA_180909.pdf
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