Strongly influenced behind the scenes by the Crown family of Chicago, which owned a controlling block of shares, the company sold off most of its military businesses when the Cold War ended in the biggest fire sale the defense sector had ever seen.
Macdonald, who has family in Great Yarmouth, had been jailed for life at Lewes Crown Court in July 1996 after he admitted arson at a block of flats in Eastbourne, East Sussex.