ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation's (IRC's) initial involvement. It describes the problems and disappointments faced by the IRC before it succeeded, with the help of Mintech, in creating a major British company in the industry. The IRC's first involvement in the industry came in May 1968 when it learned that Ransome and Marles (R&M) had been talking to SKF about a merger with Skefko. It was clear at the outset of the investigation that the IRC would have to devise a proposal for a UK-controlled grouping that R&M would see as an acceptable alternative to its arrangement with Skefko. The ball-bearing industry had first come to the IRC's attention when it was told about the discussions between R&M and SKF. It believed that, far from being neutral, a Skefko–R&M merger would wreck any possibility for forming a viable UK-owned ball-bearing industry.
