Trafalgar House (company)
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| Public company | |
| Industry | Property, engineering, construction, shipping, hotels, energy and publishing |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Kvaerner |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Defunct | 1996 |
| Headquarters | London, England |
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Key people
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Sir Nigel Broackes (Chairman) |
Trafalgar House Public Limited Company was a British conglomerate with interests in property investment, property development, engineering, construction, shipping, hotels, energy and publishing. It was listed on the and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but eventually foundered in the mid-1990s.
The company was developed by a young entrepreneur named Nigel Broackes, whose interests in share dealing and small scale property development brought him into contact with the directors of the Eastern International Investment Trust, a small trust quoted on the . In 1959, Broackes acquired a 42 per cent holding in Eastern's property subsidiary, Eastern International Property Investments. Two years later, Broackes formed a relationship with Commercial Union which bought shares in EIPI and prepared to act as a financial backer for new property developments. Almost immediately EIPI bought a 55 per cent stake in CU's residential property subsidiary Westminster & Kensington Freeholds, thereby acquiring control of a property portfolio of £3.3m for an equity cost of only £550. The name of one of those properties, 'Trafalgar House', was chosen as the new name of the Company.
In 1963, Trafalgar House was floated on the with Commercial Union owning 46 per cent of the equity and Broackes 21 per cent. The existence of a public quotation enabled Trafalgar House to issue shares for acquisitions and Broackes made extensive use of that facility for the company to become a formidable international industrial and commercial undertaking. According to The Daily Telegraph, Broackes embarked on "a string of construction and engineering acquisitions which established the core of a corporate group – and which gained Broackes the reputation for being a financier with an exceptional flair for victory in the cut and thrust of business life."
An acquisition with significant long term consequences was a 49% share of Bridge Walker in 1964 (increased to full ownership in 1967). Bridge Walker had been carrying out much of Trafalgar's construction work but apart from giving Trafalgar House its own contracting experience, the deal also brought in the owner, Victor Matthews, later to become Trafalgar's group managing director. With him and Broackes working together, acquisitions became high-profile. In that same year Trafalgar House bought Ideal Homes; Ideal had been the largest private house builder before the war and was once again expanded under its new ownership. The long-established London contractor, Trollope & Colls, was acquired at the end of the year.
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Wikipedia