And, implying that GEC Plc is trampling with hobnail boots over a whole string of delicate negotiations, Plessey Co Plc says that the joint GEC-Siemens AG bid for the company had frustrated Plessey’s application for special security clearance for its US Sippican buy since the Pentagon wanted to know with just whom it would be dealing before granting clearance; Plessey claims that 21 deals or projects had been undermined by the unwanted bid, and suggests that the proposal to parcel out bits of Plessey’s defence interests between GEC and Siemens has gone down like a lead balloon in Washington, where German and Japanese companies are viewed with disfavour when they want to buy US defence interests; Plessey also pourc scorn on the idea of breaking up its defence interests to maintain competition in the UK market since these had been carefully structured to be integrated – and in another indication that the bid, if successful, would limit competition in the UK civil market is seen in the fact that Plessey and GEC lead the two consortia contending for the contract to install the UK government’s planned Autoguide road navigation system.
