During the 1940s, the workforce at Renfrew peaked at approximately 10,000. In the post-war era, the manufacture and support of defence equipment continued to be a long-running and key business area of the company. Throughout the twentieth century, B&W was a major supplier of boilers for power stations. During the 1960s, the company became involved in the development of civil nuclear power stations in the United Kingdom. B&W also continued to diversify internationally, including into the North American market; by 1979, the company's North American subsidiary was being attributed for generating one-third of total sales (£844 million) and more than half of the business's overall profits. That same year, Babcock & Wilcox Ltd was renamed Babcocks International Ltd. 1980–1999 During 1982, Babcock International was floated on the London Stock Exchange, becoming Babcock International PLC. Around this time, subsidiary company Babcock & Wilcox (Operations) Ltd was rebranded Babcock Power Ltd; this division has subsequently become Babcock Energy Ltd. By 1985, Babcock International's turnover had reached £1.1 billion; its subsidiaries were engaged in ventures and projects across the world, typically focusing on its contracting activities. Its materials-handling business, which had been unprofitable since the 1970s, was subject to restructuring efforts and job losses around this period. During 1987, Babcock merged with rival engineering company FKI Electricals plc, forming FKI Babcock PLC. Shortly thereafter, the newly merged company's head office in London and more than two-dozen plants were closed, causing the loss of around 6,000 jobs, over half of these based in Britain, reducing its workforce to less than 30,000. Several engineering and transport businesses were purchased during this period. During August 1989, FKI Babcock PLC demerged to form Babcock International Group PLC and FKI plc. The newly independent Babcock International soon engaged in several acquisitions. In April 1992, the firm bought Middle Eastern energy industry contractor King Wilkinson. That same year, the Swedish ship-to-shore handling business Consilium was also acquired. During 1994, Babcock acquired British conglomerate Thorn EMI's 35 per cent stake in the Rosyth Dockyard, resulting in the creation of Babcock Rosyth Defence. In the same year, Babcock's material handling business, centred in Germany, was reorganised and rebranded as Babcock Materials Handling. Following the recording of a £42 million loss for the business in 1994, which was largely attributed to its energy division and repercussions from a contract at Drax Power Station, Babcock International responded by strategically avoiding overly-large contracts, unless