The boom finally fell for bombed-out Ferranti International Plc when it acceded to a bid of just one penny a share from GEC Plc. Ferranti said that the only alternative to accepting the GEC bid, valuing the company at a mere UKP10.1m would have been to call in the receivers. Ferranti shares halved to two pence each in active trading after the news – and a counter-bid remains a possibility, from the likes of Racal Electronics Plc, or a software and computer services firm that could sell on the defence side.
