Alvis PLC was a British motor vehicle manufacturer. It was created when United Scientific Holdings plc acquired the Alvis division of the

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with ...

vehicle manufacturer

British Leyland British Leyland was a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It wa ...

in 1981. United Scientific maintained its own name until 1992 when the group was renamed Alvis plc. Alvis acquired the armoured vehicle business of the Swedish engineering company Hägglund & Söner in 1997 and the armoured vehicle business of GKN in 1998. Alvis acquired Vickers Defence Systems from

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

in October 2002. It was in turn acquired by

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

in 2004 and became BAE Systems Land Systems (Weapons & Vehicles), now part of the BAE Systems Land & Armaments operating group.

History

Alvis Alvis is a given name and a surname (close to the uncommon Scottish surname Alves). Alvis may also refer to: *Alvi, a Muslim community in South Asia, who claims descent from the fourth Rashidun caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib *Alvis Car and Engineering ...

became part of

Rover Rover may refer to: People Name * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Stage name * Rover (musician), French singer-songw ...

in 1965, which ended the company's car manufacturing in 1967 to allow it to concentrate on the manufacture of armoured vehicles. In 1968 Rover and its Alvis subsidiary were incorporated into the Leyland Motor Corporation later British Leyland or BL. In 1981 the then nationalised BL sold the Alvis business to United Scientific Holdings for £27 million. United Scientific was a manufacturer of military sighting products. In 1992 United Scientific adopted the name Alvis plc. In October 1997 Alvis acquired the armoured vehicle business of Hägglund & Söner, which was later renamed Alvis Hagglunds AB. In September 1998 Alvis acquired the armoured vehicle business of GKN in a deal which saw GKN take a 29.9% stake in Alvis. GKN's shareholding was purchased by

in September 2003 for £73 million.. Press release In early 2000 Alvis sold a share of its Avimo Group optronics subsidiary to

Thomson-CSF Thomson-CSF was a French company that specialized in the development and manufacture of electronics with a heavy focus upon the aerospace and defence sectors of the market. Thomson-CSF was formed in 1968 following the merger of Thomson-Hous ...

and sold all of its remaining shareholding to

Thales Group Thales S.A., Trade name, trading as Thales Group (), is a French multinational corporation, multinational aerospace and defence industry, defence corporation specializing in electronics. It designs, develops and manufactures a wide variety of aer ...

(the renamed Thomson-CSF) in 2001. In 2002 Alvis acquired Vickers Defence Systems from

for £16 million and merged it with its existing UK business to form Alvis Vickers. The acquisition of Vickers brought the Challenger tank into Alvis' portfolio, as well as Vickers' successful military bridging division and its South African subsidiary Vickers OMC.

BAE takeover

In 2004, the board of Alvis approved a £309m takeover bid by the American defence company

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...

. Within three months

, which already had a 29% stake in the company, outbid General Dynamics by offering £355m. The action was seen as a defence of the home market from a foreign rival. David Mulholland of ''

Jane's Defence Weekly ''Jane's Defence Weekly'' (abbreviated as ''JDW'') is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane, an Englishman who ...

'' said "I don't believe BAE expects to make money from this deal," characterising the purchase as strategic rather than commercial. The bid was accepted by the majority of shareholders. In September 2004, BAE announced the creation of BAE Systems Land Systems, a new company bringing together the BAE subsidiaries, BAE Systems RO Defence and Alvis Vickers. Alvis Vickers became BAE Systems Land Systems (Weapons & Vehicles) Limited, a subsidiary of BAE Systems Land Systems. In 2005, the acquisition of

United Defense United Defense Industries (UDI) was an American defense contractor which became part of BAE Systems Land & Armaments after being acquired by BAE Systems in 2005. The company produced combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns, missile launchers and ...

led to the creation of BAE Systems Land & Armaments.

References

External links

Earley Engineering – Alvis Sales and Restoration
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvis Plc Military vehicle manufacturers Former defence companies of the United Kingdom Motor vehicle manufacturers based in London

History

BAE takeover

See also

References

External links