British Motor Syndicate
| Public Listed Company | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | July 1895 in London, England |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | 59, Holborn Viaduct, E.C., London, England |
| Services | Farming of patent rights |
Not to be confused with British Automobile Commercial Syndicate Limited
The British Motor Syndicate Limited (BMS) was a company formed in November 1895 by company promoter and entrepreneur Harry John Lawson. Lawson's aim was to use BMS to raise funds from the public to establish a business with a monopoly on petrol-driven cars by acquiring as many patents as possible related to such vehicles from Gottlieb Daimler, his business associates, and other sources.
It was never the company's intention to produce motor cars, but rather to exploit the patents it had purchased by charging substantial royalties to automobile manufacturers for the right to manufacture cars using those patents.
By the time of the first public issue, twelve months after incorporation, the following patent holders had committed themselves to BMS:
and BMS had received more than £200,000 from English motor car manufacturers, leading names were Lawson's Daimler and Great Horseless.
Directors at the time of flotation, November 1896:
Brokers: Ernest T Hooley, Chapman & Rowe
Consulting Engineer: Frederick R. Simms
The Economist was reported by the Coventry Herald as saying that the public might judge for themselves if reasonable dividends could be earned on the inflated amount of the syndicate's capital. Furthermore "the publication [of the prospectus] has been followed by a chorus of repudiations" from those said to be connected with the syndicate, one way or another. In the opinion of The Economist the syndicate would be unable to bar the way to the industry's progress by insisting on exorbitant royalties.
The British Motor Syndicate was formed when cars still had to be preceded by a man on foot. Lawson could see this restriction would soon be lifted and acquired the British Daimler rights from Gottlieb Daimler's British agent Frederick R. Simms. By this time Hamburg-born London consulting engineer Simms had had these arrangements with his personal friend Gottlieb Daimler for some years. Daimler's engines were used by leading French manufacturers including Panhard-Levassor and Peugeot. Simms also received a licence fee from owners of cars built under Gottlieb Daimler's patents.
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Wikipedia