VT Group plc was a British defence and services company, formerly known as Vosper Thornycroft. The company had diversified from shipbuilding into various engineering and support services, becoming involved in many areas of provision through five main operating groups:
VT Communications, VT Education and Skills, VT Services Inc and VT Support Services. VT Group exited the shipbuilding industry in October 2009, after selling its 45% share of the Shipbuilding Joint Venture company
BVT Surface Fleet to
BAE Systems. Formerly listed on the
London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the
FTSE 250 Index, the remainder of the firm was acquired by Babcock International Group in July 2010. The company was formed by the merger of two shipbuilding companies
Vosper Limited of
Portsmouth and
J I Thornycroft of
Woolston,
Southampton in 1966, at which time the Company became listed on the
London Stock Exchange as
Vosper Thornycroft.
Vosper Ltd built small boats and
J I Thornycroft had a long history of building destroyers and similar sized craft. The company was
nationalised by the
Labour Government in 1977, becoming a division of
British Shipbuilders. It became a commercial company again after a
management buyout in 1985. Vosper Thornycroft flourished even during lean times for warship building, mainly through successful sales efforts in exports and diversification outside the core shipbuilding business into training and support. In 1998, Vosper Thornycroft acquired the specialist military
boatbuilder Halmatic, based in
Portchester. In 2001, in their most ambitious diversification project, VT started work on the US$55million superyacht
Mirabella V for former Avis Car Hire boss Joe Vittoria. At the time of its completion in 2004, Mirabella V was the world's largest single-masted sailing vessel with an overall length of 75 metres and a mast height of approximately 87 metres. From 2002, the overall business was known as VT Group plc. The VT Halmatic
boatyard site in
Portchester was also sold off to
Trafalgar Wharf, with Halmatic also moving into Portsmouth Naval Base.
Entry into the nuclear industry In 2008, VT Group acquired BNG Project Services from the government-owned
British Nuclear Fuels for £75m. As the provider of nuclear decommissioning and waste treatment engineering services, Project Services gave VT Group access to the nuclear industry in the UK and abroad. The business was renamed VT Nuclear Services.
Exit from BVT On 28 January 2009 VT Group announced its intention to sell its share of BVT Surface Fleet to BAE Systems. VT Group's
put option valued its share at a minimum of £380 million subject to conditions, however VT Group was expected to make a cash injection into the business to offset difficulties with contracts with Trinidad and Tobago and Oman. Following the sale of VT Group's 45% share, BVT Surface Fleet was renamed
BAE Systems Surface Ships to reflect the total ownership.
Takeover and restructuring In 2010, the British defence and construction company
Babcock International purchased VT Group for £1.32bn. Babcock integrated the UK portion of VT Group into its own business. In 2012, Babcock sold VT Group, which was by then US-based, to the
private investment fund Resolute Fund II LP, linked to the
Jordan Company. In September 2023, VTG received a new majority investment from A&M Capital Partners. VT Group rebranded as VTG in 2020. == Subsidiaries ==