 In 1896 the company received an offer of £2 million from Ernest Terah Hooley and the shareholders agreed to the sale.Lawson Johnston, who was the largest shareholder in the old company, acquired a significant number of shares in a newly formed company and remained on the board until his death in 1900.He was a keen yachtsman and died aboard his yacht "White Ladye" in Cannes, France, on November 24, 1900.