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Gordon White, Baron White of Hull

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several in marginal Tory seats. Had they succeeded, White and Hanson may have acquired some of ICI's respectability with which to veneer their own wheeler-dealer reputation. On guard, ICI caused White and Hanson deep embarrassment when it revealed that White was not on Hanson's board and had spent and lost several million pounds of company money on his passionate interest in racehorses. ICI also showed that White and Hanson ran a string of offshore companies in tax havens. Furthermore, Hanson's son Robert, having been identified as the pair's likely successor, had been put in charge of the bid and had been shown to be naïve, dealing a severe blow to White and Hanson's succession plans. Their reputations now seriously damaged, White and Hanson had to withdraw before a formal takeover for ICI could be launched.
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prizes: SCM, manufacturer of Smith-Corona typewriters, and Endicott Johnson, the shoe retailer. White's current target is Kidde, a maker of products ranging from Farberware kitchen utensils to Jacuzzi Whirlpool Baths. Hanson has made an offer for Kidde, and a successful deal would double the firm's U.S. employment roster. So far White has spent $ 2 billion on his acquisitions.
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industry, in what was supposed to be the ultimate takeover. Apart from being symbolic of Britain's manufacturing and research base, ICI had plants and offices all over Britain, which made it a highly political issue for the many members of parliament whose constituents might be affected - including
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brewery pension fund. In the City there was speculation as to how the takeover juggernaut could keep going with its aim to acquire ever-larger targets, and as Hanson and White passed normal retirement age there was speculation as to their succession plans. Neither had any intention of stepping down,
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G1 in 1989 (jockey: R Cochrane; trainer: L Cumani). Reference Light (USA) won the Anzio Maiden Stakes (Div II)(2yo) in 1989 at Redcar (trainer: Sir Michael Stoute; jockey: WR Swinburn) and Evasive Prince (USA) won the EBF Willow Maiden Stakes (Div I)(2yo) at Lingfield in 1990 (trainer: Sir Michael
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takeover set the record as Britain's biggest. It also set the record as the bitterest. The fight was a public one, through full-page newspaper advertisements; but behind the scenes private investigators sought, unsuccessfully, to prove allegations of criminal activities in US side of business which
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Perhaps the most successful British buccaneer in America is the canny, soft- spoken Sir Gordon White, 64, chairman of Hanson Industries, the U.S. investing arm of London's Hanson Trust conglomerate. Hanson employs more than 35,000 workers in the eight U.S. firms it has acquired since 1973. Among the
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era, which saw a move toward capitalism and a new respect for businessmen such as White and Hanson, who were not afraid to take on trade unions and break up established companies in pursuit of profit. In the 1970s and 80s White and Hanson turned the Hanson group into a multinational encompassing,
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Stoute; jockey: WR Swinburn). White entered two horses in the Jersey Stakes (Group 3)(3yo) at Ascot in 1990: Bold Russian which came second (trainer: BW Hills; jockey: Michael Hills); and Qui Danzig (USA) which came third (trainer: Sir Michael Stoute; jockey: WR Swinburn).
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hit on the idea of importing jokey American greetings cards, then largely unknown in Britain. The business trading as Hanson White became one of Britain's largest suppliers of greeting cards, giftwrap and giftware and was sold to a management buy-out for £10.8m in 1997.
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Temperamentally and perhaps because of his wartime experiences, after the war White was more interested in having fun than working. Possessed of considerable panache, he set himself up as a Hollywood impresario in the early 1950s. He was a governor of the
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Azure an Equestrian Figure in Plate Armour brandishing a Sword in bend sinister his helm crested by a Plume of five Ostrich Feathers his horse salient and with Trapper and Chaffron all Argent and within a Bordure of the last charged with thirteen Mullets
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Bill Hanson died aged 27 of cancer, leaving his bereaved elder brother James with the duty of carrying on the Hanson business name. White became a surrogate brother to James, and was eventually the brains of the Hanson takeover machine.
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amongst others, US chemical factories, UK electricity suppliers and Australian gold mines. The Hanson group's other products included batteries, cigarettes, cod liver oil capsules, cranes, golf clubs, Jacuzzis, timber and toys.
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Then there was the issue of the pair's political connection. In November 1990, Thatcher was ousted as prime minister, seriously weakening the pair's political support. Perhaps as a consolation prize, White was given a
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Hanson and White were controversial figures who, critics claimed, were devoted to the quick profit. Such was their fame, or notoriety, that White (then Sir Gordon) was written into the script of the 1987 film
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Unlike Slater, White and Hanson survived the British slump in the early 1970s, but the "quantum leap" which had been promised to shareholders did not come until 1979, the beginning of the
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He married three times. His first marriage, to Elisabeth Kalen, the daughter of a Swedish diplomat, produced daughters Sita and Carolina, and the second, to an American actress,
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At the time of White's death in 1995, the climate in which the Hanson group operated had changed as investors looked beyond the conglomerate to single-sector companies.
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class, following years of financial troubles. Married three times, she was the mother of a daughter, Tyrian Jade (born 1992). In 2004, after Sita White's death,
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Names of horses and names and dates of races need to be made more clear; paragraph needs to be split into two paragraphs with more context and detail.
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but attempts to continue the proven method were, not surprisingly, becoming more difficult not least as the class of possible targets got smaller.
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Issuing out of a Circlet of Roses Argent barbed and seeded proper set upon a Rim Or an American Eagle's Head proper and a Lion's Head addorsed Or
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Cowe, Roger (3 November 2004). "Obituary: Lord Hanson - Wheeler-dealer who rose to greater fortune in the Thatcher years".
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The pair's entry into serious business, and the world of takeovers, came through White's connection to
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of the 1970s and 1980s known for his uncanny intuition and ruthless takeover tactics. He died in
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By 1964 he and Hanson had started to build up Hanson Trust out of the former Wiles Group.
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is now a British-based international building materials company, headquartered in London.
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Dexter: a Bear proper; Sinister: a Lion Or, on the head of each a Baron's Coronet proper
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agreed to accept Tyrian as his child and welcomed her to join their house.
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list (Hanson had been made a life peer in 1983). Prior to being created a
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From 1979 to 1986, Hanson Trust stalked its prey on both sides of the
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In May 2004 White's daughter Sita, aged 43, died suddenly during a
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aged 72, leaving most of his £70 million fortune to his son Lucas.
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He remained chairman of Hanson Industries North America, based in
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focused on a controversial attempt to take £70 million from the
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In 1958 in one of their first business ventures together he and
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Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
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Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
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Stevenson (25 August 1995). 922:Royal Air Force pilots of World War II 912:English emigrants to the United States 874: 794:(Supplement). 16 June 1979. p. 7. 736: 680: 477: 352: 13: 917:People educated at De Aston School 897:Life peers created by Elizabeth II 892:Conservative Party (UK) life peers 242:White attended De Aston School in 14: 933: 860: 454:In 1991 White and Hanson bid for 774:. 31 January 1991. p. 1603. 482: 320: 166: 137: 830: 473: 325:In 1973 White left Britain for 313:turned into one of the largest 289: 226:and one of the most successful 186: 162: 133: 798: 778: 758: 730: 719:"Obituary: Lord White of Hull" 712: 648: 1: 343:, from 1973 until his death. 258:in clandestine operations in 237: 16:British Baron and businessman 456:Imperial Chemical Industries 222:of the British conglomerate 86:Vincent Gordon Lindsay White 7: 838:"Imran will welcome Tyrian" 502:. The specific problem is: 443:, White had been appointed 381:which included hotels, the 10: 938: 570: 551: 205: 197: 112: 100: 81: 76: 72: 61: 53: 49: 40: 23: 641: 589: 350: 280:British Film Institute 30:The Lord White of Hull 449:1979 Birthday Honours 345: 543:(b.c. 1986) won the 509:improve this section 498:to meet Knowledge's 439:County of Humberside 397:was White's domain. 392:At almost £2bn, the 165: 1974; 136: 1958; 26:The Right Honourable 824:3 July 2008 at the 805:NatWest Rowley Mile 742:"For Sale: America" 596: 429:Baron White of Hull 421:resignation honours 123:Ann Elisabeth Kalen 791:The London Gazette 771:The London Gazette 662:The New York Times 607:Coronet of a Baron 594: 441:on 25 January 1991 371:Conservative Party 341:Iselin, New Jersey 907:Corporate raiders 708:. 13 August 2012. 706:independent.co.uk 639: 638: 537: 536: 529: 500:quality standards 491:This section may 383:Courage (brewery) 359:Margaret Thatcher 353:Business ventures 228:corporate raiders 209: 208: 929: 867:Hanson Worldwide 854: 853: 851: 849: 834: 828: 816: 807: 802: 796: 795: 782: 776: 775: 762: 756: 755: 750:. 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Index

The Right Honourable
KBE

House of Lords
Virginia North
KBE
James Hanson
Hanson plc
corporate raiders
Los Angeles
Market Rasen
Lincolnshire
Royal Air Force
World War II
India
Burma
Thailand
James Hanson
British Film Institute
James Hanson
Jim Slater
Hanson plc
British
New York City
Virginia North
Iselin, New Jersey
Margaret Thatcher
Atlantic Ocean
Conservative Party
Ever Ready

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