Thomson-Houston Electric Company

In 1882,[1] Charles Albert Coffin led a group of investors—largely shoe manufacturers from Lynn, Massachusetts—in buying American Electric from investors in New Britain, Connecticut.

Edwin Rice organized the manufacturing facilities, and Elihu Thomson ran the Model Room, a precursor to the industrial research lab.

British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was created as a subsidiary of (American) General Electric in May 1896.

This deal made AEI the largest military contractor of the British Empire during the 1930s and the 1940s, so during World War II.

In 1893, the Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston (CFTH) was formed in Paris, a sister company to GE in the United States.