Editing Sperry Corporation (section)

===Burroughs takeover===
On September 16, 1986, after the success of a second [[takeover|hostile takeover]] bid engineered by [[Burroughs Corporation]] CEO and former [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|U.S. Secretary of the Treasury]], [[W. Michael Blumenthal|Michael Blumenthal]], Sperry Corporation merged with Burroughs Corporation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Doyle |first1=John M. |title=Kirk Douglas Suing Sperry |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/553844728 |access-date=6 December 2021 |work=York Daily Record |agency=Associated Press |date=28 August 1987 |page=1C}}</ref> The newly merged company was renamed [[Unisys|Unisys Corporation]]— a portmanteau of "united", "information", and "systems," while also referencing Sperry's well-known previous UNIVAC computer branding.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sims |first=Calvin |date=November 11, 1986 |title=Burroughs Announces New Company Name |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/11/business/burroughs-announces-new-company-name.html |access-date=March 10, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> The takeover came about even after Sperry used a "[[shareholder rights plan|poison pill]]" in the form of a major share price hike to dissuade the hostile bid, the result of which caused Burroughs to borrow much more funding than was anticipated to complete the bid.

Certain internal divisions of Sperry were sold off after the merger, such as [[Sperry New Holland]] (1986, to [[Ford Motor Company]], who in 1991 sold the Ford-New Holland line to [[Fiat]]<ref>{{cite web |title=New Holland History |url=http://agriculture.newholland.com/nar/en-us/about-us/new-holland/a-long-history |website=New Holland Agriculture |access-date=6 December 2021}}</ref>) and [[Sperry Marine]] (to [[Tenneco]], in 1987,<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Sperry Marine |url=http://www.sperrymarine.com/corporate-history/sperry-marine |website=Sperry Marine |access-date=6 December 2021}}</ref> and is currently part of [[Northrop Grumman]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Our History |url=http://www.sperrymarine.com/about-us/sperry-marine/our-history |website=Sperry Marine |access-date=6 December 2021}}</ref>). Also sold—to [[Honeywell]]—was [[Sperry Aerospace Group]], while [[Sperry Defense Products Group]] was sold to [[Loral Corporation|Loral]]; those two units whose functions were originally at the heart of the venerable Sperry Gyroscope division.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Price |first1=Kathie |title=Valley Unit of Sperry Sold for $1.03 Billion |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/121767379 |access-date=20 December 2022 |work=[[The Arizona Republic]] |date=15 November 1986 |pages=A1, A14}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=December 2022}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Abbott |first1=Paul Scott |title=No City Employee Impact Seen in Plant Acquisition |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/157702152 |access-date=20 December 2022 |work=Albuquerque Journal |date=15 November 1986 |page=17}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=December 2022}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Loral Wins Bid for Unisys System |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/153213226 |access-date=20 December 2022 |work=Beacon Journal |date=22 March 1995 |page=B8}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=December 2022}} This group is now part of [[Lockheed Martin]].