In Brief : Britain’s GEC to Fight Takeover Bid

Britain’s largest manufacturing firm, General Electric Co., vowed today to fight a possible takeover bid estimated at $12 billion which an international consortium is apparently trying to put together.

The British government’s Office of Fair Trading, meanwhile, said it will inquire into any threatened bid for the diversified electronics and defense industry company.

The reports of a possible bid led politicians of all parties to demand that the government stop foreign interests from muscling in on GEC.

In a statement today, GEC described as “vague and inconclusive” a weekend announcement that investment banker Lazard Brothers & Co. had formed a new company, Metsun Ltd., charged with formulating a proposal for a 7- billion-pound offer for GEC.