Takeover Of William Cook

EDM number 390 in 1996-97, proposed by Richard Caborn on 14/01/1997.

That this House calls on the Office of Fair Trading and the Department of Trade and Industry to refer the present takeover bid by Triplex Lloyd for William Cook to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission; believes a detailed evaluation of the kind the Monopolies and Mergers Commission can carry out is necessary in this case; further believes that the restructuring of the steel castings industry over the last decade, resulting in one of the most competitive such industries, should not be put in jeopardy by an ill-conceived takeover; understands the crucial relevance of the company to Britain's defence industrial base; and requests that the financial institutions properly evaluate the industrial strength of this sector and base their decision on the long-term interest of the investor and the customer, and not on short-term gain.

This motion has been signed by a total of 42 MPs.