The suggestion that GEC Plc is looking for a foreign buyer for GEC Plessey Semiconductors Ltd (see front) is going to make a lot of people that still believe Britain needs a locally-owned high technology capability very unhappy – and the fact that the company makes chips used in defence products may mean that it won’t play to well with the Ministry of Defence; before Plessey Co Plc was bought by GEC Siemens Plc, the top staffers at Plessey Semiconductors were actively rallying support for a management buy-out, and since a niche chip manufacturer with $450m annual sales is a viable entity, it should be possible in the present financial climate to raise money for a buy-out and additional equity to pay for a new fab this time around.
