Rolls Royce Plc

The realities of global commerce caught up with a grand remnant of British glory Friday as German auto maker Volkswagen won approval to buy Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, infuriating small English investors. "Should I call it now a Rolls-wagen?" incredulous shareholder Rodney Crowe asked at a meeting called by Vickers, the engineering group that is selling Rolls-Royce to the Germans.

General Electric Co. and Rolls-Royce Group were selected by Boeing Co. to supply engines for the new 7E7 aircraft, beating United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney for a contract worth as much as $40 billion over 25 years. "GE probably had an interest in putting an eight-inch nail in the coffin of Pratt & Whitney's large aircraft engine business," said Brian James, an analyst at Loomis Sayles & Co.

Rolls-Royce Buys Firm: Rolls-Royce PLC said it will acquire Northern Engineering Industries PLC in a deal that values the British maker of electrical generating equipment at about $520 million. Jet-engine maker Rolls-Royce, which already holds a 4.7% stake in Northern Engineering, said the stock swap values NEI at $2.18 a share.

Rolls-Royce, the world's second-largest civil jet engine maker, said Sunday that it expects to increase sales in its lucrative maintenance and spare parts business to 50% of total sales. "We have 40% of our sales in the aftermarket, and I guess we can get to 50%," Chairman Ralph Robins, who will retire later this year, said.

Rolls-Royce PLC said today that it will acquire Northern Engineering Industries PLC in a deal that values the British maker of electrical generating equipment at about $520 million. Rolls-Royce, the jet engines manufacturer, which already holds a 4.7% stake in the firm, said the stock swap values NEI at $2.18 a share. Rolls-Royce said it will offer seven new shares for every 10 NEI shares.

Rolls-Royce PLC said Trans World Airlines has chosen its most powerful long-haul engine to power recently ordered Airbus A-330 airliners in a deal worth more than $620 million. TWA has agreed to buy 20 of the A-330 twin-engined aircraft along with an option for 20 additional aircraft, making it the largest A-330 order to date. TWA is scheduled to receive the planes in late 1994.

British manufacturer Rolls-Royce PLC said today that California-based International Lease Finance Corp. has agreed to buy aircraft engines worth $200 million. The airliner leasing company has ordered 22 engines for Boeing 757s and 13 engines for 747s and 767s. Rolls-Royce director Frank Turner told reporters at the Paris international air show that the purchase was based on a business agreement between the two groups drafted in May, 1988. International Lease Finance Corp.

It was built as a publicity stunt and survives as an 83-year-old monument to Edwardian excess. In darker days, speakers of much lesser treasons against Rolls-Royce were sentenced to a short stay in the Tower of London, an oak block and the final cut. Yet the truth stands. In 1907, Henry Royce and Charles Rolls agreed to prepare a car that would do for their 3-year-old Rolls-Royce Ltd. what the Sphinx did for Cairo--boggle the world, cast a permanent image, and bring in major revenues.

BMW, synonymous with German industrial quality and craftsmanship, is acquiring a British taste. The auto maker known for status cars made news this past week with the purchase of Britain's Rover, the formerly state-owned maker of four-wheel drive vehicles. Less publicized, however, is BMW's other move into the British business world: a joint venture with Rolls-Royce--the jet engine maker, not the luxury car manufacturer.

Airplane engine maker Rolls-Royce said it is cutting 5,000 jobs, or 11.5% of its worldwide work force, the latest casualties of the airline industry's downturn after the terrorist attacks. About 3,800 of the jobs to be eliminated are in Britain, the company said. It did not specify where the other 1,200 cuts would be made.

International Lease Finance Corp., the giant plane lessor, ordered $910 million worth of aircraft engines from Rolls-Royce on Tuesday in a deal that included engines for the future Airbus Industrie superjumbo A-3XX. The order by the Century City-based company places the British engine maker ahead of its U.S. rivals General Electric Co. and United Technologies Co.'s Pratt & Whitney unit in the race to provide engines for the new superjumbo jet, Rolls-Royce said.

Boeing Co., Rolls-Royce and CFM International are being sued for $2.5 billion by a Southland upstart that claims the aerospace companies interfered with its plan to refurbish and sell 700 Boeing 727-200 aircraft. Aviation Upgrade Technologies Inc. claims in its antitrust lawsuit that Seattle-based Boeing persuaded CFM and Rolls-Royce not to sell it aircraft engines.

For every dream there is a machine, and every machine has its maker. Rolls-Royce & Bentley Motor Cars Ltd. of Crewe, England, has been one such noble creator for three years short of a century. The company is also the single, signal source of twin automotive pedigrees that reach beyond obtainable dreams to barely attainable fantasies. These great cars are the stuff of British queens and Saudi princes, old sultans and new dictators, lords of manors and bosses of drug cartels.

Science Applications International Corp. and Britain's Rolls-Royce said they plan to form a 50-50 joint venture to provide information technology services to aerospace companies. Rolls-Royce is the world's second-largest aircraft engine maker after General Electric Co., while San Diego-based SAIC is a closely held provider of information technology. The new company, which will employ 350 and be based in Virginia, will design products to improve efficiency of aerospace manufacturing equipment.

In a surprise twist, German auto giant Volkswagen agreed Tuesday to split Rolls-Royce Motor Cars with BMW, the rival it outbid for the luxury auto maker less than a month ago. The deal also gives BMW rights to the Rolls-Royce nameplate and leaves VW with ownership of the Rolls plant in Crewe, England, and the right to make the Bentley model. BMW will produce Rolls-Royce cars.

Dream Client: Like most companies, Burlington Air Express is trying to become the Rolls-Royce of its industry. And in the meantime, it has won a contract to ship jet aircraft engine parts to Rolls-Royce in Derby, England. Irvine-based Burlington will fly parts from American suppliers to Rolls-Royce, including entire aircraft engines. The deal is valued at $2 million a year. Burlington Chairman David L. Marshall called Rolls-Royce "a wonderful addition to our customer base."

New Bentley Introduced in U.S.: Bentley Motors says the two-door Continental R will list for $249,800. It will be the first model in more than 40 years that has not shared the same body as a Rolls-Royce. Britain's Roll-Royce Motors bought Bentley in 1931. Since the 1950s, the two companies have produced different versions of the same car. The Continental R has a sleeker body than traditional Bentleys.

The realities of global commerce caught up with a grand remnant of British glory Friday as German auto maker Volkswagen won approval to buy Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, infuriating small English investors. "Should I call it now a Rolls-wagen?" incredulous shareholder Rodney Crowe asked at a meeting called by Vickers, the engineering group that is selling Rolls-Royce to the Germans.

BMW stepped out of the bidding war for Rolls-Royce Motor Ltd. on Friday, leaving rival German auto maker Volkswagen in the lead to win the luxury auto maker a day after Vickers accepted its sweetened offer. But Volkswagen faces major hurdles--including a battle to use the Rolls brand name--in gaining control of Rolls even if Vickers' shareholders choose its $705-million offer at their meeting next month.