Ferranti International Signal plc came about as a result of a merger between Ferranti plc and International Signal & Control plc in 1987. The change of name, on the 27th May 1988 happened before a serious fraud was detected by Ferranti in 1989. International Signal & Control had created three sets of bogus contracts, created in order to make the company more attractive to perspective buyers. The fraud amounted to a loss of £215 million for the Group in 1989.