British Aerospace Act 1980
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State-owned company (1977-1980) Public limited company (1980-1999) |
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| Industry | Aerospace |
| Fate | Merged with Marconi Electronic Systems |
| Predecessor |
British Aircraft Corporation Hawker Siddeley Scottish Aviation |
| Successor | BAE Systems |
| Founded | 29 April 1977 |
| Defunct | 30 November 1999 |
| Headquarters | Farnborough, Hampshire, United Kingdom |
| Products | Aircraft |
| Subsidiaries | Rover Group (1988-1994) |
| Website | bae.co.uk (archived) |
| British Aerospace Act 1980 | |
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| Long title | An Act to provide for the vesting of all the property, rights, liabilities and obligations of British Aerospace in a company nominated by the Secretary of State and the subsequent dissolution of British Aerospace; and to make provision with respect to the finances of that company. |
| Citation | 1980 c. 26 |
| Introduced by | unknown |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 1 May 1980 |
| Commencement | 1 May 1980 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | — |
| Relates to | Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 |
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Status: Current legislation
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| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the British Aerospace as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc, to form BAE Systems.
The company was formed in the United Kingdom as a statutory corporation on 29 April 1977 as a result of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act. This called for the nationalisation and merger of the British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Scottish Aviation. In 1979 BAe officially joined Airbus, the UK having previously withdrawn support for the consortium in April 1969.
In accordance with the provisions of the British Aerospace Act 1980 the statutory corporation was changed to a public limited company (plc), under the name British Aerospace Public Limited Company, on 1 January 1981. On 4 February 1981 the government sold 51.57% of its shares. The British government sold its remaining shares in 1985, maintaining a £1 golden share which allows it veto foreign control of the board or company.
On 26 September 1985, the UK and Saudi Arabian governments signed the Al-Yamamah arms deal with BAe as prime contractor. The contracts, extended in the 1990s and never fully detailed, involved the supply of Panavia Tornado strike and air defence aircraft, Hawk trainer jets, Rapier missile systems, infrastructure works and naval vessels. The Al Yamamah deals are valued at anything up to £20 billion and still continue to provide a large percentage of BAE Systems' profits.
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