Randall wrote:
>>I always thought that Lucas belongs to TRW Automotive.
>>TRW bought Lucas in 1999 as far I remember.
>>
>>
>
>TRW did own at least some of Lucas. There have been so many companies with
>rights to use the Lucas name in certain markets that it's hard to keep track.
>But TRW no longer exists, and various pieces of the business were sold off.
>ISTR reading that they had already started to divest much of their automotive
>replacement business even before being bought by Northrup-Grumman. Some of
>Lucas belongs to Goodyear, some to BF Goodrich, some to a bunch of investment
>bankers. Probably some still belongs to NGC, too.
>
>But there doesn't seem to be anything on Bosch's website about acquiring the
>Lucas name ...
>
>
Just to amplify on this a bit. TRW, Inc. acquired Lucas Varity (the
automotive supplier side of Lucas--there are others with the Lucas name,
including Lucas Aerospace--acquired by Goodrich when it was spun
off--and Lucas Engineering Consulting, for example) around 1999 for $9
billion. In 2002, Northrop Grumman acquired TRW, Inc., in a hostile
takeover for about $10 billion (TRW had bitten off more than it could
chew with the acquisition of LV). Northrop Grumman retained TRW
Aerospace and TRW Information Systems and integrated them into Northrop
Grumman, and sold the remainder to the Blackstone Group in March, 2003.
The Blackstone Group then created a new, automotive-focused TRW, Inc.,
out of the pieces, and it was this company which was offered as an IPO
in 2004. Lucas Varity was entirely absorbed into the new TRW, Inc., and
is no more. If you try to get to lucasvarity.com, it's the new TRW, Inc.
web site.
Cheers.
--
Michael D. Porter
Roswell, NM
Never let anyone drive you crazy when you know it's within walking distance....
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