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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
306:, the accountant turned stock market whizz kid who introduced them to the potential in public company shares. White and Hanson concentrated on emulating Slater's takeover techniques, building up a public company through acquisitions and disposals.
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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
369:, acquiring a succession of ever-larger companies, often in hard-fought takeover battles planned and directed by White but fronted by Hanson. At this time White and Hanson were giving millions of pounds to the
336:(whom he divorced in 1991), gave him a son, Lucas. After the divorce he lived with a former model, Victoria Tucker, 40 years his junior. The couple married in a registry office in Hamilton, Bermuda, in 1992.
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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
317:-owned conglomerates with annual profits of more than £1.5 billion and a strategy of growth through acquisition. From 1965 to 1973 White was deputy chairman of Hanson Trust Ltd.
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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.
451:. The reduction in political support, signalled by Thatcher's resignation and honours notwithstanding, was the beginning of the end of the pair's takeover career.
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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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270:. It was during the war that White became friends with Bill Hanson, British show-jumping star and younger brother of
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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
657:"Lord White, 72, Who Liked Role As a Business Buccaneer, Is Dead"
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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
595:Coat of arms of Gordon White, Baron White of Hull
377:company Berec, the retail group UDS, and finally
212:Vincent Gordon Lindsay White, Baron White of Hull
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329:where he developed Hanson's American holdings.
400:The fight for Imperial took its toll. In 1986
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458:("ICI"), one of the commanding heights of
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527:Learn how and when to remove this message
68:25 January 1991 – 23 August 1995
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373:. Successful acquisitions included the
655:Richard W. Stevenson (25 August 1995).
922:Royal Air Force pilots of World War II
912:English emigrants to the United States
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794:(Supplement). 16 June 1979. p. 7.
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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
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454:In 1991 White and Hanson bid for
774:. 31 January 1991. p. 1603.
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719:"Obituary: Lord White of Hull"
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258:in clandestine operations in
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16:British Baron and businessman
456:Imperial Chemical Industries
222:of the British conglomerate
86:Vincent Gordon Lindsay White
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838:"Imran will welcome Tyrian"
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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
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136: 1958;
26:The Right Honourable
824:3 July 2008 at the
805:NatWest Rowley Mile
742:"For Sale: America"
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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
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441:on 25 January 1991
371:Conservative Party
341:Iselin, New Jersey
907:Corporate raiders
708:. 13 August 2012.
706:independent.co.uk
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500:quality standards
491:This section may
383:Courage (brewery)
359:Margaret Thatcher
353:Business ventures
228:corporate raiders
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256:World War II
250:. He was a
248:Lincolnshire
244:Market Rasen
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220:James Hanson
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106:(1995-08-23)
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887:1995 deaths
882:1923 births
819:Racing Post
786:"No. 47869"
766:"No. 52437"
560:Wall Street
511:if you can.
282:, 1982–84.
232:Los Angeles
96:11 May 1923
876:Categories
624:Supporters
617:Escutcheon
584:Imran Khan
541:Legal Case
517:March 2023
468:Hanson plc
375:Ever Ready
311:Hanson plc
304:Jim Slater
238:Early life
224:Hanson plc
92:1923-05-11
848:11 August
633:Alta Peto
425:life peer
403:The Times
64:In office
822:Archived
493:require
389:crisps.
268:Thailand
198:Children
602:Coronet
495:cleanup
460:British
437:in the
419:in the
408:Courage
315:British
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113:Spouses
571:Family
552:Legacy
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630:Motto
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611:Crest
264:Burma
260:India
185:(
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850:2018
747:Time
590:Arms
580:yoga
435:Hull
385:and
266:and
167:div.
138:div.
101:Died
82:Born
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216:KBE
34:KBE
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