To ease the transition to the new millennium, Pittston embarked on a major restructuring effort in the late 1990s that would radically change the shape of the company. In 1999, the company announced that it was considering divesting its coal holdings, which had lost $3.58 million in 1998. As part of the reorganization, Pittston also changed its tracking inventory structure into a single corporate edition. According to a December 1999 United Press International article, Michael T. Dan – the company`s president, president and chief executive officer – stated that Pittston`s future “lies in global business and security services where Brink`s Inc., Brink`s Home Security and BAX Global have superior products and services, strong market positions and strong growth prospects.” In January 2012, Brink`s acquired Kheops, SAS, a provider of logistics software and related services in France, for approximately $17 million. This acquisition gave the company exclusive control of the software, which is mainly used in cash transportation and money processing in France. [6] In October 2015, Brink`s activist investor, Starboard Value LP, announced that it had increased its stake in the company to approximately 12.4%. [23] Later that year, Brink`s responded to texas RFI 212P with its views on a solution for Texas HB 483 and created the Texas Bullion Depository. [24] The company`s new share structure came into effect in January 2000 and the sale of its coal assets began in 2001. In December 2002, Pittston ended its 165-year history in coal mining with the sale of its Virginia-based interests to Alpha Natural Resources LLC. The final stage of Pittston`s transformation took place on May 5, 2003, when the company officially changed its name to The Brink`s Company. In honor of his new nickname, Dan and other Brink executives rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange. “We understand that investors are not only focused on what we achieve, but also on how we achieve it.
To be competitive and win, we need to consider the broader needs of society and ensure that we treat all stakeholders fairly and with respect while running our business with integrity and loyalty. In 1982, Pittston undertook its first major diversification in 25 years with the acquisition of Burlington Northern Air Freight for $177 million. Pittston entered the air cargo business at a highly competitive time, hoping to secure a spot in the overnight express market. It invested heavily in building a hub for Burlington in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and then renamed the company Burlington Air Express to focus on its night services. Despite these efforts, Burlington`s initial performance was disappointing, recording a loss of $19 million in 1987. Nevertheless, Pittston, led by Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Paul W. Douglas, continued to commit to expanding its air cargo business beginning in 1984. In 1987, it acquired WTC Airlines, Inc., a group of companies specializing in air cargo for the fashion industry, to expand Burlington`s capacity and operations. Soon after, Burlington began to reverse the trend, recording net profits in 1988 and 1989, accounting for 51% of Pittston`s total revenue.
In 1962, Brink`s was acquired by Pittston, a coal company. Burlington Air Express was acquired in 1982. Brink`s Home Security was founded in 1983. [4] Pittston sold its coal assets in the 2000s and renamed brink`s. The home`s security unit has also been outsourced. [5] On November 26, 1983, there was an armed robbery of a warehouse near Heathrow Airport in London, operated by Brink`s-Mat, a former joint venture between Brink`s and London-based MAT Transport specializing in the transport of valuable goods. Three tonnes of gold bars (worth £26 million) were stolen. Most of the gold was never recovered. When a security breach occurs, does my system tell me where it happened in my home? By the end of 1988, Pittston seemed to be on the right track. It posted a profit of $48.6 million, compared to a net loss of $133 million a year earlier. However, a protracted labour dispute with the UMW led to more difficult times.
In 1988, the Bituminous Coal Operators` Association (BCOA), an industrial trade group, negotiated a new contract with umW in which the UMW promised to continue production in the coal industry without a strike. But Douglas, the president of Pittston, decided to withdraw from the BCOA and refused to offer the BCOA contract to Pittston employees. (Pittston left the BCOA because the BCOA represented domestic steam coal producers, and Pittston was primarily active in the metallurgical coal export market. Due to cheap competition from South Africa, South America, and Australia, Pittston`s exports were under severe pressure on prices and volumes, while domestic steam markets were stable.) Instead, Pittston sought to cut health benefits for its miners and tighten controls on their working hours in exchange for job security. The angry miners left the country on April 5, 1989, and sympathy strikes by other UMW members soon followed. By July 1989, 30,000 miners had participated in wildcat strikes across the country in support of 1,800 Pittston workers. The strike, marked by hostilities on both sides, lasted until the end of 1989 and cost Pittston`s coal division $27 million that year. Pittston and the UMW finally reached an agreement on January 1, 1990, in which both sides made concessions. The workers regained their health benefits while the company received the desired changes to the rules of work. Pittston miners ratified the treaty the following month, ending one of the costliest and most violent strikes in UMW history.
However, Pittston Minerals Group`s profits continued to be low in the 1990s. In 1996, profits fell to $15 million, compared to $16 million the previous year. Although gold operations in Australia set records with production of more than 90,000 ounces in 1996 and the Silver Swan nickel mines showed all signs of a promising venture for the Company, the enormous costs associated with unused mining properties as well as low coal prices hampered the Minerals Group`s results. Despite the losses suffered during the strike, Pittston was in a stable position. The Brink`s subsidiary, which was driven by the strong performance of its home security business, had operated with consistent profitability. Although Burlington Air Express` profits in 1990 had not yet been in line with expectations, the air cargo business continued to grow as a significant portion of Pittston`s total revenues. The coal division of the company remained an issue. Its performance depended on its ability to reduce goodwill in its labour relations and in volatile energy markets around the world. Pittston`s fate began to turn when Young and Kirby convinced J.P. Routh to become president of the Pittston Company. When Routh took over in 1939, Pittston shares fell to 12.5 cents per share and the company owed $10 million to the Erie Railroad. Routh, who owned his own coal wholesale business, devised a plan to pay off Pittston`s debt and looked for ways to grow his business.
He turned to the growing market for bituminous or soft coal. In 1944, he brought his first bituminous reserves to Pittston with the purchase of 60% of the Clinchfield Coal Corporation. Clinchfield Coal was founded in 1906 when Ledyard Blair, Thomas Fortune Ryan and George L. Carter merged several small coal companies. Clinchfield Coal owned 300,000 acres of coal reserves in southwestern Virginia, and this acquisition permanently moved Pittston`s coal operations from Pennsylvania to appalachia. Over the next four years, Pittston invested heavily in Clinchfield Coal. In 1945, Pittston and Clinchfield Coal jointly acquired 67% of the Davis Coal & Coke Company. Seven years later, Davis Coal & Coke was incorporated into Clinchfield Coal. In 1947, Pittston acquired the Lillybrook Coal Company to increase its coal reserves.
He also drilled a lot of Clinchfield`s properties for natural gas. In 1956, Pittston bought the remaining 40% of Clinchfield Coal, making the highly profitable company a wholly-owned subsidiary. In 2012, Brink`s agreed to sell its CIT business in Germany and Poland, as well as its event security business in France, and the company completed the divestiture of its security business in Morocco in December 2012. Overall, management was confident that its transition from a diversified commodity company to a business and security services company would position it for future growth and success. Brinks Inc. was strong with more than 7,000 armored trucks serving more than 50 countries. Brink`s Home Security was also a market leader with over 760,000 customers in North America. With revenue of $1.9 billion in 2002, BAX Global acted as the company`s largest entity. With plans to further expand its global reach, the company appeared to be on track to increase sales in the coming years.
The Brink`s Company – formerly known as The Pittston Company – is a transportation and security services company. The three main business units include Brink`s Inc., a leading provider of safe transportation and armoured vehicle services; BAX Global, an international freight forwarding company; and Brink`s Home Security, one of the largest home alarm service companies in the United States. The company restructured itself in the early years of the new millennium by selling its coal business, which had served as the basis for much of its history. Pittston changed its name to Brink`s in 2003, signaling its focus on business and security services. Pittston`s main diversification quickly followed with the purchase of a stake in Brink`s, Inc., a Chicago-based safety transportation company. Brink`s was founded in 1859 as a delivery company and began paying in 1891. From there, it had become the world`s largest armored car company, providing services to private companies, banks, the Federal Reserve, and the United States.