International Controls Corporation (ICC) was an American

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

incorporated in 1965. Before being taken private in 1997, its subsidiaries included

Checker Motors Corporation Checker Motors Corporation was a vehicle manufacturer, and later an automotive subcontractor, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The company was established by Morris Markin in 1922, created by a merger of the firms Commonwealth Motors and Markin ...

and Great Dane Trailers. It had previously been forced to liquidate many of its holdings after charges of massive

securities fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information.Robert Vesco Robert Lee Vesco (December 4, 1935 – November 23, 2007Lacey, M. and Kandell, J. (2008 ''New York Times''. May 3, 2008. Retrieved 5/3/08.) was an American criminal financier. After several years of risky investments and dubious credit dealings, ...

Early history

ICC was incorporated in 1965 by

Robert Vesco Robert Lee Vesco (December 4, 1935 – November 23, 2007Lacey, M. and Kandell, J. (2008 ''New York Times''. May 3, 2008. Retrieved 5/3/08.) was an American criminal financier. After several years of risky investments and dubious credit dealings, ...

(1935–2007), an entrepreneur from

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Vesco had secured control of Captive Seal, a valve manufacturer in Fairfield,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, and placed its assets and liabilities into the newly formed company. He then acquired Cryogenics Inc., a nearly defunct

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

-based manufacturer of

cryogenic In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th International Institute of Refrigeration's (IIR) International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington, DC in 1971) endorsed a univers ...

devices founded in 1959. Vesco merged ICC with Cryogenics and reorganized ICC as a public corporation in Florida, thus skirting SEC filing requirements. Vesco initiated an aggressive expansion of ICC, borrowing heavily to acquire new holdings via

hostile takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (law), company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast t ...

s. By the end of 1967, ICC owned Fairfield Aviation (which operated Caldwell-Wright Airport, later renamed

Essex County Airport Essex County Airport , informally known as Caldwell Airport, is a public use airport located in Fairfield Township, Essex County, New Jersey, north of the central business district of Caldwell, New Jersey, Caldwell, a Borough (New Jersey), bo ...

), ICC Manufacturing (formerly Lowden Machine Co.), The Special Corporation (a precision manufacturer of electronic components), Silber Products, and the Moeller Tool Corporation. ICC's stock was listed on the

American Stock Exchange NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known ...

in May 1968. Later that year, it acquired the Intercontinental Manufacturing Company, a weapons manufacturer in

Garland, Texas Garland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located within Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County with portions extending into Collin County, Texas, Collin and Rockwall County, Texas, Rockwall counties. It is located northeast of Dallas and is a ...

, and made a tender offer for the Electronic Specialty Company, a large manufacturer of aeronautical and electromechanical components. After a series of lawsuits, the acquisition of Electronic Specialty was completed in July 1969.

SEC investigation

In 1970, Vesco began a takeover bid for

Investors Overseas Service Investors Overseas Services, Ltd. (IOS) was founded in 1955 by financier Bernard Cornfeld. The company was incorporated outside the United States with funds in Canada and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. In the 1960s, the company employed 25 ...

(IOS), a mutual fund investment firm run by Bernard Cornfield. According to later federal investigations, Vesco transferred money from IOS's mutual funds into various ICC-controlled offshore enterprises. The

Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

(SEC) launched an inquiry into Vesco's dealings in March 1971. Vesco wanted

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

's Attorney General

John N. Mitchell John Newton Mitchell (September 5, 1913 – November 9, 1988) was the 67th attorney general of the United States, serving under President Richard Nixon and was chairman of Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns. Prior to that, he had been ...

to intercede on his behalf with SEC chairman

William J. Casey William Joseph Casey (March 13, 1913 – May 6, 1987) was an American lawyer who was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community and personally directed the ...

, and in April 1972 he sent his counsel, former New Jersey State Senator Harry L. Sears, along with ICC president Lawrence Richardson, to deliver a cash contribution of $200,000 to

Maurice Stans Maurice Hubert Stans (March 22, 1908April 14, 1998) was an American accountant, civil servant, and political organizer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Commerce from 1969 to 1972. He served as the finance chairman for the Committe ...

, finance chairman for the

Committee to Re-elect the President A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

. The secret payment, made shortly after the enactment of financial disclosure laws under the

Federal Election Campaign Act The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA, , ''et seq.'') is the primary United States federal law regulating political campaign fundraising and spending. The law originally focused on creating limits for campaign spending on communicati ...

, was revealed in a pretrial deposition in February 1973. With criminal charges pending from the SEC investigation, Vesco fled to

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

in February 1973, accused of stealing $224 million from IOS investments. He sought to maintain control over his 26 percent share of the company, but facing multiple indictments for securities fraud, he never returned to the United States, dying in

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Allen M. Shinn, a recently retired

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

vice admiral, as president and chief executive officer, with Elmer A. Sticco named chief operating officer. To reduce its debt, the company sold off many of its subsidiaries, leaving behind Datron Systems and American Industries among its major holdings. Financier Arthur M. Goldberg launched a takeover bid in 1985, forming a corporation with

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. After its closure it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chas ...

to acquire the company. Under Goldberg, ICC acquired the trucking firm Transway International Corp. A company bought in the acquisition, Great Dane Trailers Inc., became ICC's sole remaining subsidiary after further holdings were sold off in 1988. In 1989, Goldberg engineered the

reverse takeover A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compa ...

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

, leaving ICC in control of two subsidiaries, Checker Motors and Great Dane Trailers. Later that year, ICC bought South Charleston Stamping and Manufacturing Co. of

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

. The stamping plant was sold off in 1996. In 1997, ICC was privatized by Capital Resource Advisors, a Chicago investment firm, leaving Checker Motors Company as a stand-alone private company. Checker Motors declared bankruptcy in 2009. ICC was renamed Great Dane Holdings Inc. in 1996. All company assets were acquired by CRA Holdings Inc. in 1997.

References

{{Reflist, 33em Holding companies established in 1965 Defunct companies based in Florida Holding companies of the United States