Varity is the result of a merger between Lucas and Kelsey Hayes - a U.S.
company primarily known for automotive wheels, and truck components. Lucas
is indeed a major brake component supplier - they bought out the brake
division of Lockheed if I am not mistaken. The modern Lucas (Varity) is a
prominent supplier to the U.S. automotive manufacturers, including brakes,
and fuel injection systems. Most recently, I understand that Lucas EFI was
selected by Volkswagen AG over Bosch!
Regards,
Chris
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net]On
> Behalf Of MGMagnette@aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 1998 11:22 PM
> To: mgs@autox.team.net; xj-s@jag-lovers.org
> Subject: Evil Dr. Joesph Lucas now US citizen!
>
>
> We all remember Joseph Lucas, Ltd of Birmingham as the worlds
> leading producer
> of shoddy wiring and sub-standard fiddly-bits. Lucas was a
> company forever
> known as being quintessentially British. Announced today, Lucas
> (now known as
> LucasVarity) is soon to become an American company. This, one of the last
> fragments of the British motor industry, was not bought out but
> just basically
> decided to move. The following are some quotes from an article
> released by
> Bloomberg:
>
> "London, Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- LucasVarity Plc, the world's
> second-largest
> automotive brake maker, will reorganize as a U.S. company and
> list shares on
> the New York Stock Exchange, part of an effort to move closer to its big
> customers and take advantage of cheaper borrowing costs.
> The headquarters will move from London to Buffalo, New York,
> where U.S. Varity
> Corp. was based before the U.K.'s Lucas Industries Plc acquired it for $2
> billion in 1996. The change puts the company closer to main
> customer General
> Motors Corp. "
>
> "``The momentum of the world's auto industry is concentrating on the U.S.
> because of the strong economy and stable dollar,'' said Jim
> Gillette, an auto
> industry consultant with IRN Inc.
> Every 10 London-listed ordinary shares will convert to one share of the
> reformed company, while American depositary receipts exchange one for one.
> LucasVarity rose 2.5 pence to 210 in London while American
> depositary receipts
> rose 11/16 to 35 in New York.
>
> The move could raise the profile of LucasVarity, No. 2 in brakes after
> Germany's Robert Bosch Gmbh, among suppliers. It ``will enable us
> to keep on
> an equal footing with our peer group,'' Chief Executive Victor
> Rice said. The
> company had revenue of 4.68 billion pounds ($7.8 billion) last year.
>
> LucasVarity said it doesn't expect job losses in the U.K. or U.S.
> It employs
> about 56,000 workers worldwide, including 10,000 in the U.S. Only about a
> dozen people will have to transfer from London, spokeswoman Nancy
> Frederickson
> said. Some 36 people work in the Buffalo office now, she said.
>
> The changes reflect the growth in the company's U.S. investor base,
> LucasVarity said. U.S investors make up 47 percent of all shareholders, up
> from 33 percent, while the percentage of U.K. shareholders has
> declined to 47
> percent from 63 percent.
>
> U.S. investors might have a more favorable opinion of LucasVarity
> stock than
> their U.K. peers, analysts said.
>
> ``Some of the investors saw the merger as half empty, not half
> full,'' said
> Gary Lapidus, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein. ``From the U.S.
> perspective, LucasVarity is embraced more favorably.''
>
> The U.S. also is home to the world's biggest auto market, with 15
> million car
> and truck sales annually, and the world's two biggest automakers,
> GM and Ford
> Motor Co. GM generates about 25 percent of LucasVarity's brake sales.
>
> LucasVarity's light-vehicle braking systems, its largest
> division, is based in
> the Detroit suburb of Livonia, Michigan. The division is the
> world's leading
> producer of two-wheel antilock brakes.
>
> Lower Borrowing Costs
>
> The move to the U.S. could help LucasVarity pursue its growth strategy.
> Borrowing costs in the U.S. are about 30 percent lower than in
> the U.K., which
> would cut the cost of acquisitions that the company is considering for the
> automotive or aerospace industries, Chief Operating Officer Neil
> Arnold said.
>
> ``It will make (an acquisition) easier,'' Arnold said.
>
> While LucasVarity has amassed as much as 1 billion pounds it could use for
> acquisitions, it also has been shedding businesses. The company said last
> month that it will sell its heavy-duty brake business, which had
> 1997 sales of
> 170 million pounds ($281 million). It sold its Perkins diesel
> engine unit last
> year for 810 million pounds ($1.33 billion) to Caterpillar Inc.
>
> The main benefit of moving to the U.S. is increased investor
> communication,
> Lapidus said. It will be easier for analysts to follow the stock once it's
> registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, he said.
>
> LucasVarity's sales rose 8.6 percent to 1.076 million pounds.
> About 80 percent
> of sales last year were auto parts, the other 20 percent in
> aerospace parts.
> The company said earlier today it won contracts for flight
> control systems and
> other parts worth 920 million pounds ($1.5 billion). "
>
> As Lucas abandons thier traditional role as a maker of British
> car electrics,
> what does this hold in store for future supplies of Lucas products? Does
> Lucas even make old Lucas parts anymore or do they just license
> thier name?
> Anyone who knows any more about this, please post.
>
> Another rumor, the president of Lucas said maybe six months ago that
> LucasVarity might lose the name "Lucas" because of the stigma attached.
>
> Another piece of offbeat trivia, before he went on to become lead
> singer of
> Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne used to tune horns at the Lucas factory in
> Birmingham! His mother worked there too.
>
> John
>
> British things in garage:
>
> 1959 MG Pinninfarina body Magnette Mk. III
> 1972 MGB
> 1986 Jaguar XJ-S with big stinkin' V-12
> 1969-on all Black Sabbath and Ozzy records
>
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