Wassall
of Leicester
1988 Benson Shoes owned 82 percent of J. W. Wassall.
1988 Three investors acquired J. W. Wassall, discount shoe retailer, with plans to develop into a diversified group; Hanson took a minority stake and Benson retained a stake in the company; Harris and Sheldon also owned a minority stake[1]
1988 Acquired Evertaut, third largest maker of office and commercial seating, and A. S. Toone, maker of plastic and wood panels, from Harris and Sheldon.[2]
1989 Acquired Hille Ergonom, maker of office and contract seating. Acquired Antler maker of luggage[3]
1990 Acquired Metal Closures Ltd[4]
1995 Made what was thought to be a transformative acquisition of General Cable; already owned Techno Pack, makers of bottling systems, and office furniture businesses[5]
1997 Having turned around the General Cable business, plans were made to sell a majority of that company and return funds to shareholders[6]
1998 Plan to turn the company into an investment/venture capital company[7]. The American DAP, adhesives maker, was the largest part of the group. Acquired TLG and built up stake in BICC[8]
2000 After 2 failures in major take-over bids, the company was acquired by US buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in conjunction with Zumtobel, lighting makers of Austria[9]