Complex sentence: Smallpeice attempted to defend the company against a takeover, commissioning a report from McKinsey & Company on the future outlook of the company, but this would ultimately prove futile, and Trafalgar House launched an ultimately successful bid for the company, beginning on 30 June 1971.
Split into simpler sentences: Smallpeice attempted to defend the company against a takeover, commissioning a report from McKinsey & Company on the future outlook of the company. This course of action would ultimately prove futile and Trafalgar House would launch a successful bid for the company, beginning on 30 June 1971.