industry services formerly shipbuilding predecessor vosper & company j i thornycroft founded 1966 headquarters arlington virginia key people dean willard ceo owner vt holdings inc. subsidiaries vt milcom inc. vt services inc. vt aepco inc. vt griffin inc. website http www.vt group.com vt group is a privately held united states defence and services company with its origins in a former british shipbuilding group previously known as vosper thorneycroft . the british part of vosper thorneycroft was integrated into babcock international in the early 2010s and no longer uses the name vt group . contents 1 history 1.1 move to portsmouth naval base and creation of bvt surface fleet 1.2 entry into the nuclear industry 1.3 exit from bvt 1.4 takeover by babcock 1.5 babcock sale 2 references 3 external links history edit 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 finally 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 . 1 vosper thornycroft company logo 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 . 2 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 . 3 from 2002 the overall business was known as vt group plc. 2 move to portsmouth naval base and creation of bvt surface fleet edit from its formation in 1966 the company was based at the former thornycroft shipbuilding yard at woolston in southampton hampshire but in 2003 relocated its shipbuilding operations to new facilities in the famous hmnb portsmouth naval dockyard under the name vt shipbuilding . in 2008 vt shipbuilding was merged with bae systems glasgow based surface fleet solutions subsidiary to form bvt surface fleet . 4 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 edit 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 . 5 exit from bvt edit 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 . 6 takeover by babcock edit in 2010 the british defence and construction company babcock international group purchased vt group for 1.32 bn . 7 8 babcock sale edit 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 . 9 references edit hasell nick 11 may 2010 . babcock s public service appeal . the times . london . a b learning 21 about us super sloop yachting world bvt surface fleet joint venture becomes operational press release . bae systems plc. 30 june 2008 . retrieved 1 july 2008 . vt group buys bng project services . nuclear engineering international . sandle paul ; hepher tim 28 january 2008 . vt group to sell stake in shipbuilding jv to bae . the guardian . london guardian newspapers . reuters . retrieved 28 january 2009 . wachman richard 23 march 2010 . babcock and vt agree 1.3 bn merger . london guardian . retrieved 24 march 2010 . babcock international plc. completion of acquisition pdf . retrieved 18 june 2011 . babcock int l to sell vt services to vt holdings . marketwatch wsj . 14 may 2012 . retrieved 24 january 2014 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to vosper thornycroft . company website modern timeline of british shipbuilding companies 1960 present 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 hawthorn leslie & company caledon sh b. & eng . co. robb caledon shipbuilding henry robb harland and wolff harland & wolff heavy industries ailsa shipbuilding company ferguson ailsa ailsa & perth ferguson brothers ferguson shipbuilders lithgows scott lithgow scott lithgow scotts sh b. & eng . co. greenock dockyard co. swan hunter & wigham richardson swan hunter group swan hunter smiths dock co. john readhead & sons hall russell & co. hall russell a & p austin & pickersgill north east shipbuilders ltd. a & p appledore international a & p group william doxford & sons appledore shipbuilders dml appledore babcock marine appledore cammell laird & company vsel coastline cammell laird a & p shiprepair nwsl clss vickers armstrongs vickers ltd. shipbuilding marconi marine vsel bae systems marine bae sub . solutions yarrow & co. y w. sh b. ltd. upper clyde shipbuilders ysl marconi marine ysl bae surf . flt . solutions bvt surface fleet bae systems surface ships fairfield sh b. & eng . co. govan sh b. kvaerner govan charles connell & company scotstoun marine john brown & company marathon clydebank uie scotland alexander stephens & sons w. denny & bros. a. & j. inglis simons & lobnitz barclay curle j. i. thornycroft & co. vosper thornycroft vosper thornycroft vt group vosper & co. british hovercraft corporation hoverwork ltd. griffon hoverwork griffon hovercraft ltd. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s bsc british shipbuilders corporation retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title vt group & oldid 724031686 categories british shipbuilders corporationbritish boat builderscompanies formerly listed on the london stock exchangecompanies established in 19661966 establishments in the united kingdomhidden categories engvarb from may 2013commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction 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