Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

‘To invite disappointment or worse’: governance, audit and due diligence in the Ferranti–ISC merger

Billings, Mark; Tilba, Anna; Wilson, John

‘To invite disappointment or worse’: governance, audit and due diligence in the Ferranti–ISC merger Thumbnail


Authors

Mark Billings

John Wilson



Abstract

Mergers and acquisitions frequently destroy shareholder value, and UK companies have a particularly poor record in US deals. But outcomes are rarely as calamitous as in the case of the British electronics group Ferranti which in 1987 entered into a significant merger with the US company International Signal and Control Group (ISC). The combined group had collapsed by 1993. Our analysis of the case, seen in the light of more recent corporate failures such as the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), leads us to question whether the UK’s ‘idiosyncratic mix’ of corporate governance mechanisms can ever effectively constrain the flawed and dictatorial decision-making of dominant individuals.

Citation

Billings, M., Tilba, A., & Wilson, J. (2016). ‘To invite disappointment or worse’: governance, audit and due diligence in the Ferranti–ISC merger. Business History, 58(4), 453-478. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2015.1085973

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 18, 2015
Online Publication Date Sep 15, 2015
Publication Date May 18, 2016
Deposit Date Jul 6, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Business History
Print ISSN 0007-6791
Electronic ISSN 1743-7938
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 58
Issue 4
Pages 453-478
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2015.1085973
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1326608
Related Public URLs https://eprint.ncl.ac.uk/216298

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations