Thorn EMI plc was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail. Created when Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI in October 1979, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It demerged back to separate companies in 1996.
History The company was formed following the board of EMI accepting a £169 million offer from Thorn Electrical Industries in November 1979 to merge the groups. Thorn saw EMI as a good fit for the music and future home video market with Thorn manufacturing hardware and EMI providing content. EMI chief executive Bernard Delfont, chairman Sir John Read and Capitol Records' chief Bhaskar Menon joined the Thorn EMI board, with Read becoming deputy chairman of Thorn EMI. Thorn's chairman Sir Richard Cave became chairman of the merged group. Soon after the merger, Thorn EMI divested many of the group's leisure operations. In July 1980, seven hotels, including the Tower Hotel, London and Royal Horseguards Hotel, and 12 Angus Steakhouse restaurants were sold for £23 million to Scottish & Newcastle Breweries. In November the same year, most of the group's other leisure interests including Blackpool Tower, amusement parks, sport centres, piers, restaurants, pubs, four theatres, including the Prince Edward Theatre, and the Empire Ballroom and Cinema in Leicester Square in London were sold to Trust House Forte for £16 million. Lord Delfont became chairman and chief executive of THF's leisure division. In May 1984, the Company attempted to merge with British Aerospace and, in July 1984, it bought the micro-chip manufacturer, INMOS. In April 1986, Thorn EMI sold its film and video operations to businessman Alan Bond. Thorn EMI acquired the Mullard Equipment Limited ('MEL') division of Philips in 1990. Further divestment of operations took place during the 1990s. In 1991, its consulting, systems integration, and outsourcing service division – Thorn EMI Software, was a subject of a management buyout. In 1993, Thames Television was sold. In 1994, following a leveraged management buy-out, Thorn Lighting Ltd floated on the London Stock Exchange as TLG plc (the Thorn Lighting Group) and in 1995, the various defence businesses were sold. On 16 August, 1996, Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of demerging Thorn from EMI again: the Company became EMI Group plc, and the electronics and rentals divisions were divested as Thorn plc.
Operations Thorn EMI's wide range of business covered the following principal areas of activity; retail/rentals, electronics, defence, software, music, television broadcasting, lighting and film and cinema.
Retail and rental Thorn Television Rentals (TTR) comprised two companies on merger, Radio Rentals and DER (Domestic Electric Rentals Ltd). The EMI group also included the HMV stores. Radio Rentals was acquired in 1968 for £155 million to form the largest television rental group in Great Britain with 1,300 rental stores and 2.6 million subscribers. In 1987, Thorn EMI acquired Rent-A-Center in the United States for $594 million which had 469 stores on acquisition. In 1989, Rumbelows was acquired by Radio Rentals and all Rumbelows' rental accounts were transferred to Radio Rentals, bolstering its market position. With its core business removed, Rumbelows sought a new identity as a more conventional (non-rental) retailer, even adding computers to the product mix. In 1992, Thorn converted some of the remaining Rumbelows shops into DER, Multibroadcast or Radio Rentals branches. Some stores were also converted to the Fona brand. By the 1990s, Rumbelows was making losses and Thorn closed the remaining 285 Rumbelows shops and 36 Fona stores in 1995. In 1995, Thorn EMI bought Dillons the Bookstore from Pentos and immediately closed 40 of the 140 Dillons bookstore locations. Of the remaining 100 stores, most kept the name Dillons, while the remainder were Hatchards and Hodges Figgis.
Music The EMI label expanded greatly as part of Thorn EMI. In 1989, Thorn EMI bought a 50% interest in Chrysalis Records, buying the outstanding 50% in 1991. In one of its highest-profile and most expensive acquisitions, Thorn EMI took over Richard Branson's Virgin Records in 1992 for £510 million.
Television broadcasting Thorn EMI was the majority shareholder in the London-based ITV broadcaster Thames Television until a share flotation in 1984. In 1984, Thorn EMI and others launched Music Box, Premiere and The Children's Channel via satellite television. In 1985, the company attempted to sell their stake in Thames to Carlton Communications but this was blocked by the governing body of ITV, the Independent Broadcasting Authority. In February 1986, Thorn EMI's 50% stake in Music Box owner, The Music Channel, was sold to fellow shareholder, Virgin Group, for £600,000. Thames Television was acquired by Pearson Television in mid-1993.
Lighting
In 1987, the purchase of the Jarnkonst group of Nordic light fitting companies by Thorn Lighting and closure of the Buckie lamp factory signalled a new drive by parent Thorn EMI to trade an export and 'colonies' mentality for a multi-cultural, international outlook, one that took account of the forthcoming Single European Act. Gaining critical mass in lighting fixtures – defined as 10% market share in any one county – was identified as a priority. In 1988, Thorn EMI bought the French group Holophane to gain access to its luminaire subsidiary, Europhane. In November 1990, Thorn EMI announced that it had agreed to sell its principal light source interests to GE Lighting. Under the agreement, GE acquired the lamp plants at Enfield, Leicester and Wimbledon, as well as Thorn's 51% in SIVI Illuminazione in Italy and 100% holding in Gluhlampenfabrik Jahn. Thorn EMI subsequently closed its Merthyr Tydfil lamp factory, consolidated its UK distribution centres and sold its South African business. In 1994, following a leveraged management buy-out, Thorn Lighting Ltd floated on the London Stock Exchange as TLG plc (the Thorn Lighting Group).
Defence From its formation until the mid-1990s, Thorn EMI was one of the United Kingdom's largest defence companies. The MEL Division, acquired from Philips, was involved in radar, electronic warfare, and communications. The MEL communications business was sold to Thomson-CSF, now Thales. In 1995, the various defence businesses were sold:
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