Maxwell Communication Corporation

Maxwell Communication Corporation plc
Industry Media
Fate Went into administration
Founded 1964
Defunct 1991
Headquarters London, UK
Key people
 Robert Maxwell (Chairman)

Maxwell Communication Corporation plc was a leading British media business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

History

The Company was established in 1964 when Hazell Sun merged with Purnell & Sons to form the British Printing Corporation.[1] In 1967 the British Printing Corporation merged its magazines into Haymarket Group.[2] During the 1970s the British Printing Corporation was involved in many disputes with trade unions.[3] In 1978 such a dispute led to The Times and Sunday Times not being published for 10 months.[3]

In July 1981 Robert Maxwell launched a dawn raid on the Company acquiring a stake of 29%; the following year he secured full control of it.[3] He changed the name of the Company to British Printing & Communications Corporation in March 1982 and to Maxwell Communication Corporation in October 1987.

The Company acquired Macmillan Publishers, a large US publisher, in 1988.[4] It went on to buy Science Research Associates and the Official Airline Guide later that year.[5]

The Company went into administration in 1991 following the death of Robert Maxwell.[6] Its properties were sold to various media companies. McGraw Hill acquired that part of Science Research Associates it did not already own outright,[7] OAG was acquired by Reed Elsevier,[8] while Macmillan was folded into Simon & Schuster.[9]

References

  1. ↑ National archives
  2. ↑ Haymarket: Timeline Archived 2009-03-30 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2 3 Peter Robinson, Chairman and CEO, Obituary, The Times, 15 November 2007.
  4. ↑ "Maxwell Lifts Macmillan Takeover Bid to $86.80 a Share", New York Times, 16 September 1988.
  5. ↑ "Airline Guide being sold to Maxwell", New York Times, 31 October 1988.
  6. ↑ "Bankruptcy Explanation By Maxwell", New York Times, 18 December 1991.
  7. ↑ "McGraw-Hill and Maxwell Form Venture". New York Times. 18 May 1989. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  8. ↑ Stanley Ziemba (19 August 1993). "British Firm Near Deal To Acquire Airline Guides". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  9. ↑ "After 65 years, Free Press to be absorbed into Simon & Schuster flagship". Melville House. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2018.


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