Racal-vadic Info Sheet

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Frequently Asked Questions

• What company did Racal buy out in 1980?

  The Milgo and Vadic purchases increased U.S. sales tremendously, from $5 million to an estimated $355 million between 1976 and 1982. In 1980, Racal bought the British firm Decca Ltd. Analysts at the time believed that Decca would give Racal too many businesses "irrelevant" to its major activities.

• What did Racal buy Decca for?

  With Decca, Racal acquired defense radar, avionics, and marine and survey electronics capabilities. Another bidding contest, this time with rival British electronics firm General Electric, hiked Decca's sale price from $150 million to $250 million.

• How many countries does Racal operate?

  Racal operates through a network of subsidiaries in England, the United States, Europe, and Asia. Twenty of these subsidiaries are in North America. Overall, sales outside of the United Kingdom account for more than 54% of Racal's annual revenues. Raymond Brown and Calder Cunningham founded Racal as a two-man consulting firm in 1950.

• What did Racal do wrong with the cellular network?

  Racal's gamble was to set up a cellular telephone network in Britain. Start-up costs for Vodafone, as the network is called, cut deeply into profits in 1985. but two years later Racal reported a third of its profits from the cellular network.

• What was the original name of the Racal modem?

  The company marketed modems under the name Racal-Vadic, and was among the first to offer 2400 baud modems in the early 1980s. Another name it used was Racal-Milgo. In 1984, Racal bought Chubb, a security company that manufactured safes and locks.

• Is Racal Electronics owned by Vodafone?

  On 29 December 1986, Racal Electronics bought out the minority shareholders of Vodafone for £110 million. In 1988, 20% of Racal Telecom was floated on the London Stock Exchange. This would lead to the situation where Racal Electronics was valued at less than its shareholding in Racal Telecom.

• What happened to Racal defence electronics?

  In 1995, Racal expanded its defence businesses with the acquisition of the Thorn Sensors Group from Thorn EMI. In 1998, all of Racal defence businesses were reorganised under Racal Defence Electronics Ltd into Racal Radar Defence Systems, Racal Radio and Racal Thorn.

• Who is the founder of Racal RA17?

  Racal RA17 communications receiver Racal was created in 1950 as Racal Ltd, the name being derived from the names of the partners, Raymond Brown and George Calder Cunningham. Ernest Harrison joined the company as employee number 13 as an accountant, but later held the positions of chief buyer, personnel director and contract negotiator.