ArmorGroup International plc originated as Defence Systems Limited (DSL), which was formed in 1981 to provide protective security services around the world, principally to multinational oil and gas companies.

DSL was acquired in 1997 by Armor Holdings Inc. (AHI), a US company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Following its acquisition by AHI, DSL became part of its ArmorGroup division., which continued to grow organically as well as by making a number of acquisitions. The most significant acquisition was completed in August 2001 when ArmorGroup acquired International Training Inc. (ITI), which had been founded in 1989 and was one the the leading security training companies in the US. ITI was the basis upon which the rest of ArmorGroup’s training business was built.

By 2002 AHI had increasingly begun to focus on its core business of manufacturing armoured vehicles and equipment for law enforcement officers. AHI announced its intention to divest the ArmorGroup businesses in the middle of that year.

In November 2003, many of the current management team, supported by Granville Baird Capital Partners and Barclays plc, completed a Management Buy Out (MBO) of ArmorGroup from AHI. Following the MBO, all of the share capital of the Company was owned by the Granville Funds and the management.

ArmorGroup International plc successfully listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 10 December 2004 and was delisted on 6 June 2008.

ArmorGroup was acquired by G4S plc, the world’s leading international security solutions group, on 7 May 2008. To visit the G4S plc website please click here.