ABSTRACT
In May 1965, Mr. John Davis, Managing Director of the Rank Organisation, suggested a merger that would combine Rank's instruments subsidiary, Rank Taylor Hobson (RTH), with Cambridge Instruments (CI), but Barlow thought the time inopportune. A great deal of information had been analysed by the IRC covering all the major companies in the industry although, significantly, little detailed information had been collected on RTH. This was partly because Rank's main interests were in other fields but also because RTH's own activities were not seen as central to the industry. It was inevitable that the IRC would take a view on the merits of Rank's bid for CI and, given the conclusions of its study of the industry, this view was not likely to be one of unqualified approval. The IRC executive made an assessment of the case for the IRC becoming involved with Rank, George Kent and CI and of the relative merits of the two bids.
