A Story of Allis-Chalmers in the 20th Century (part 3)

If the late 1940s through the 50s was an era of prosperity and expansion for Allis-Chalmers, the 1960s represented a darker time for the company. One of the biggest problems the company faced was with several attempts of corporate takeovers from various companies interested in acquiring Allis-Chalmers and their resources. This is all in the back drop of the late 1960s, where Allis Chalmers had low profit numbers and was overall struggling to make a profit at all. in 1968, the company reported its lowest numbers yet, with a net income of 713,000 dollars. Compare this to numbers posted just two years ago (in 1966, they reported 26 million net income) and you see a night and day difference. They were able to fight off multiple takeover attempts, one in 1968 by Gulf and Western Industries, was narrowly avoided when the FTC intervened in the deal and opposed their plan. Another one took place in November, 1968 when City Investing offered to buy out the company, with help from Allis-Chalmers president Robert S. Stevenson, who saw his company failing and lost hope for its survival. This deal was narrowly avoided once again because of the failure to offer adequate compensation to already existing A-C shareholders. although the company suffered in the late 60s, it made a comeback in the 1970s with income increasing by 5 million over a period of 6 years (1971-1976). This was also an revival of the global expansionist business policy, started under company president W. A Roberts. A-C signed deals with several Eastern European countries, opened offices in Iran and several African Countries and even worked with the Soviet Union in an long-term technology agreement in 1975. By the end of the decade, Allis-Chalmers was back on track and ranked 164th in the Fortune 500 for industrial companies.

Sources: Managerial vision and craftsmanship: Allis-Chalmers Corporation Scott, David, C

An Industrial Heritage: Allis-Chalmers Corporation, Walter Fritiof