ITT Corporation (NYSE: ITT) is a global diversified manufacturing company with 2008 revenues of $11.7 billion. ITT participates in global markets including water and fluids management, defense and security, and motion and flow control. Forbes.com named ITT Corporation to its list of "America's Best Managed Companies" for 2008, and awarded the company the top spot in the conglomerates category.
ITT's water business is the world's largest supplier of pumps and systems to transport, treat and control water, and other fluids. The company's defense electronics and services business is one of the ten largest US defense contractors providing defense and security systems, advanced technologies and operational services for military and civilian customers. ITT's motion and flow control business manufactures specialty components for aerospace, transportation and industrial markets.
In 2008, ITT was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) for the tenth time in recognition of the company's economic, environmental and social performance. ITT is one of the few companies to be included on the list every year since its inception in 1999.
The company was founded in 1920 as International Telephone & Telegraph. During the 1960s and 1970s, under the leadership of its CEO Harold Geneen the company rose to prominence as the archetypal conglomerate, deriving its growth from hundreds of acquisitions in diversified industries. ITT divested its telecommunications assets in 1986, and in 1995 spun off its non-manufacturing divisions, later to be purchased by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
In 1996, the company became ITT Industries, Inc., but changed its name back to ITT Corporation in 2006.
History
ITT was formed in 1920, created from the Puerto Rico Telephone Company co-founded by Sosthenes Behn.[1] Its first major expansion was in 1923 when it consolidated the Spanish Telecoms market into what is now Telefónica.[2] From 1922 to 1925 it purchased a number of European telephone companies. In 1925 it purchased the Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company of Brussels, Belgium, which was formerly affiliated with AT&T, and manufactured rotary system switching equipment. In the 1930s, ITT grew through purchasing German electronic companies Standard Elektrizitaetsgesellschaft (SEG) and Mix & Genest, both of which were internationally active companies. Its only serious rival was the Theodore Gary & Company conglomerate, which operated a subsidiary, Associated Telephone and Telegraph, with manufacturing plants in Europe.
In the United States, ITT acquired the various companies of the Mackay Companies in 1928 through a specially organized subsidiary corporation, Postal Telegraph & Cable. These companies included the Commercial Cable Company, the Commercial Pacific Cable Company, Postal Telegraph, and the Federal Telegraph Company.
International telecommunications
International telecommunications manufacturing subsidiaries included STC in Australia and Britain, SEL in Germany, BTM in Belgium, and CGCT and LMT in France. Alec Reeves invented Pulse-code modulation (PCM), upon which future digital voice communication was based. These companies manufactured equipment according to ITT designs including the (1960s) Pentaconta crossbar switch and (1970s) Metaconta D, L and 10c Stored Program Control exchanges, mostly for sale to their respective national telephone administrations. This equipment was also produced under license in Poznań (Poland), and in Yugoslavia, and elsewhere. ITT was the largest owner of the LM Ericsson company in Sweden but sold out in 1960.
1989 breakup
In 1989 ITT sold its international telecommunications product businesses to Alcatel, now Alcatel-Lucent. ITT Kellogg was also part of the 1989 sale to Alcatel. The company was then sold to private investors in the U.S. and went by the name Cortelco Kellogg. Today the company is known as Cortelco (Corinth Telecommunications Corporation, named for Corinth, MS headquarters). ITT Educational Services, Inc. (ESI) was spun off through an IPO in 1994, with ITT as an 83% shareholder. ITT merged its long distance division with Metromedia Long Distance, creating Metromedia-ITT. Metromedia-ITT would eventually be acquired by Long Distance Discount Services, Inc. (LDDS) in 1993. LDDS would later change its name to Worldcom in 1995.
In 1995, ITT Corporation split into 3 separate public companies:
* ITT Corp. — In 1997, ITT Corp. completed a merger with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, selling off its non-hotel and resorts business. By 1999, ITT completely divested from ITT/ESI; however, the schools still operate as ITT Technical Institute using the ITT name under license.[1] Also in 1999, ITT Corp. dropped the ITT name in favor of Starwood.[7]
* ITT Hartford (insurance) — Today ITT Hartford is still a major insurance company although it has dropped the ITT from its name altogether. The company is now known as The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.
* ITT Industries — ITT operated under this name until 2006 and is a major manufacturing and defense contractor business.
o On July 1, 2006, ITT Industries changed its name to ITT Corporation as a result of its shareholders vote on May 9, 2006.
Purchase of International Motion Control (IMC)
An agreement was reached on June 26, 2007 for ITT to acquire privately held International Motion Control (IMC) for $395 million. The deal was closed and finalized in September 2007. An announcement was made September 14, 2010, to close the Cleveland site.
Purchase of EDO
An agreement was reached September 18, 2007 for ITT to buy EDO Corporation for $1.7 billion.[12] After EDO shareholders' approval, the deal was closed and finalized on December 20, 2007.
Purchase of Laing
On April 16, 2009, ITT announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Laing GmbH of Germany, a privately held leading producer of energy-efficient circulator pumps primarily used in residential and commercial plumbing and heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
2011 breakup
On January 12, 2011, ITT announced a transformation to separate the company into 3, stand-alone, publicly-traded, and independent companies.
The International Telephone and Telegraph Company was founded in 1920 by Colonel Sosthenes Behn. Early takeovers formed the company into a worldwide leading conglomerate for telephone technology and other communication technologies - a role that was further supported by the company's expansion during World War II.
After the war ITT expanded in other trades such as automobile technology, satellite communication, liquid technologies, and even the hotel business with the takeover of Sheraton Hotels in the year 1968.
In 1979 the company started to sell off some of its wide spread fields of action. A process that reached its peak in 1995 with the split into three separate listed companies - ITT Industries, ITT Hartford Group and ITT Destinations. ITT Destinations, a service provider in the hospitality industry was later sold to Starwood Hotels & Resorts. The ITT Hartford Group, a subsidiary in the insurance industry was separated as Hartford Financial Services.
Today ITT Corp. is a worldwide operating enterprise with a turnover of 9 bln US$ in the year 2007 and leading positions in its four main areas of operations. Around 40.000 people are employed worldwide. The company is seated in White Plains, New York.
ITT is the worldwide leading supplier of pumps, systems, and services for the control and treatment of water and other liquids. The company is a main supplier of high-end military defense systems and offers its technical and operational services to a wide range of government agencies. Further, ITT produces plugs, switches, and wirings which are being used in telecommunications, computers, aviation, industrial applications, and networks. ITT is also a manufacturer of industrial components which are being used in transportation, construction, and aviation.
ITT's history in consumer electronics reaches back far into the year 1930 when ITT became a major shareholder in the company "Mix & Genest AG" which was founded in 1879 by Wilhelm Mix and Werner Gerest, as well as the company "C. Lorenz AG" which was founded in 1880 by Carl Lorenz. These two companies had their main fields of business in radio technology, whereas the "C. Lorenz AG" positioned itself with the takeover of the "G. Schaub Apparatebau-Gesellschaft mbH" in 1940 in the development and manufacturing of radio broadcast receivers. From 1950 on all products were manufactured by Schaub in the city of Pforzheim; in 1952 the model range of both companies was merged and the distribution of Lorenz radios was integrated in the company Schaub. From 1955 on all products were distributed under the brand name "Schaub-Lorenz". In 1958 the companies "Standard Elektrik AG" and "C. Lorenz AG" were merged into the "Standard Elektrik Lorenz AG" (SEL). From 1979 on this field of business was named "Audio-Video-Elektronik" and belonged to ITT; the products - such as television sets, radios, car radios, cassette recorders, world receivers, and speaker boxes - were being distributed under the brand name "ITT Schaub-Lorenz". In 1987 ITT established together with the French "Companie Générale d'Électricité" the European group of companies named "Alcatel n.v.", where the consumer electronics branch was sold to Nokia in early 1988. With that, Schaub-Lorenz, as well as the TV manufacturer Graetz, which was taken over by SEL in 1961, belonged to Nokia. From then on Nokia distributed consumer electronics products, such as television sets, video recorders, and amplifiers under the brand name "ITT Nokia". Nokia, however, soon quit the distribution of consumer electronics and focused on the manufacturing of mobile phones...
Die Standard Elektrik Lorenz AG (heute Alcatel-Lucent Deutschland AG) ist ein Unternehmen der Nachrichtentechnik (früherer Slogan: SEL – Die ganze Nachrichtentechnik) mit Hauptsitz in Stuttgart. Zur Nachrichtentechnik zählen auch Informations- und Kommunikationstechnik, Telekommunikationstechnik (SEL war für die Röchelschaltung bekannt) und früher Fernmeldetechnik oder Schwachstromtechnik. Einen weiteren Geschäftsbereich hatte das Unternehmen in der Bahnsicherungstechnik, so wurden für die Deutsche Bundesbahn Relaisstellwerke und elektronische Stellwerke mit den dazugehörigen Außenanlagen (Signale, Gleisfreimeldeanlagen, Weichenantriebe) sowie die Linienzugbeeinflussung entwickelt und gebaut, welche auch bei ausländischen Bahnen Abnehmer fanden. Der Bereich gehört seit 2007 als Thales Transportation Systems GmbH (seit 02.2011 vorher Thales Rail Signalling Solutions GmbH) zum Thales-Konzern. Die bereits 1998 ausgegliederten Bereiche Alcatel Air Navigation Systems und SEL Verteidigungssysteme sind ebenfalls heute in Thales Deutschland beheimatet.[1]
Fernseher Illustraphon 743 von 1957
„Goldsuper Stereo 20“ (1961)
Das Flaggschiff der erfolgreichen Schaub-Lorenz Kofferradios der sechziger Jahre: Touring 70 Universal
Erster Digitalfernseher der Welt (1983)
Bis 1987 gehörte SEL zusammen mit anderen auf dem Sektor Telekommunikation in anderen Ländern tätigen Schwesterfirmen zum US-amerikanischen Mischkonzern International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT). ITT verkaufte die Aktien-Mehrheit an den ITT-Telekommunikationsfirmen an die französische Compagnie Générale d’Electricité (CGE), die nach der Zusammenfassung mit den eigenen Telekommunikationsaktivitäten daraus die Alcatel N.V. bildete.
Die Standard Elektrik Lorenz AG wurde 1993 in Alcatel SEL AG umbenannt. Die Aktienmehrheit liegt mit über 99 % bei der Alcatel. Mit der Fusion von Alcatel und Lucent zu Alcatel-Lucent am 1. Dezember 2006 und der Neu-Firmierung beider Unternehmen in Deutschland zur Alcatel-Lucent Deutschland AG entfiel der Zusatz SEL.
Geschichte
Die beiden Stammfirmen des Unternehmens, die Mix & Genest AG und die Telegraphenbauanstalt von C. Lorenz, wurden 1879 bzw. 1880 gegründet. Das erste Patent von Mix & Genest datiert von 1883, das erste Patent von C. Lorenz ist aus dem Jahr 1902.
Das Unternehmen Mix & Genest war wesentlicher Teil der Standard Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (SEG), in die auch die Süddeutsche Apparatefabrik (SAF), die 1875 von F. Heller als "Friedrich Heller, Fabrik Elektrotechnischer Apparate" gegründet wurde, integriert wurde. Der technische Schwerpunkt von Mix & Genest bzw. SEG sowie der C. Lorenz AG war der klassischen Fernmelde- bzw. Funktechnik zuzuordnen. Die C. Lorenz AG baute in den 1920er und 1930er Jahren Großsender für den neu gegründeten Rundfunk.
1930 übernahm die International Telephone and Telegraph Company (ITT) die Aktienmehrheit der Mix & Genest AG und der C. Lorenz AG. [2]
Die C. Lorenz AG positionierte sich mit der Übernahme der G. Schaub Apparatebau-Gesellschaft mbH im Jahr 1940 in der Entwicklung und Herstellung von Rundfunkempfängern. Ab dem Jahr 1950 wurden alle Geräte bei Schaub in Pforzheim gefertigt. 1952 wurde das Typenprogramm beider Unternehmen verschmolzen und der Lorenz-Radio-Vertrieb in die Firma Schaub integriert. Ab 1955 wurden die Geräte unter dem Namen Schaub-Lorenz vertrieben.
1956 wurde das Unternehmen SEG in Standard Elektrik AG umbenannt. Ebenfalls 1956 wurde ein Kabelwerk gegründet. Wesentlicher Motor für das 1957 gegründete Informatikwerk war Karl Steinbuch, der von 1948–1958 dem Unternehmen, zuletzt als Technischer Direktor und Leiter der Zentralen Forschung, angehörte.
1958 erfolgte die Vereinigung der Standard Elektrik AG mit der C. Lorenz AG zur Standard Elektrik Lorenz AG (SEL).
Die Standard Elektrik Lorenz AG übernahm 1961 die Graetz KG. Die Firmenteile Schaub-Lorenz und Graetz waren zusammen mit einem Bildröhrenwerk Bestandteil der Unternehmensgruppe Audio Video der SEL AG, die 1979 als Audio-Video-Elektronik in die ITT ausgegliedert wurde. Die Produkte, die unter anderem Fernsehgeräte, Radios, Autoradios, Kassettenrecorder, Weltempfänger und Lautsprecherboxen umfassen, wurden fortan unter dem Namen ITT Schaub-Lorenz vertrieben.[2]
Versuche, auf dem neuen Gebiet der Raumfahrt-Elektronik Fuß zu fassen, waren auf folgende Produkte beschränkt:
* AZUR: Telemetrie/Telekommandogeräte
* Spacelab: Datenerfassung/Kommandoterminal.
SEL entwickelte zu Beginn der 1970er Jahre das Präzisionsanflugverfahren SETAC. Dieser Unternehmensbereich wurde im Jahre 1987 von der finnischen Firma Nokia übernommen.
1976 hatte SEL ein Grundkapital von 357 Mio. DM bei 33.000 Beschäftigten und einem Umsatz von 2,6 Mrd. DM.
1983 stellte SEL auf der Internationalen Funkausstellung Berlin 1983 mit dem ITT Digivision den weltweit ersten Fernseher mit digitaler Signalverarbeitung vor.[3]
2003 wurden die Markenrechte am Namen Schaub Lorenz an die italienische General Trading SpA verkauft. Die neugegründete Schaub Lorenz International GmbH vertreibt seitdem unter dem alten Markennamen Schaub-Lorenz importierte Konsumelektronik aus dem unteren Preisbereich.
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