Bangor Punta Timeline - 1970s

1970

  • Appeared on Fortune 500 List ranked as # 288 with Revenues of $329.9 million; Profits (- Loss) of -$8.6 million; Assets of $373.7 Million; Stockholders' Equity of $137.3 million. Employees numbered 10,500.
  • Sold Bale Pin Company to Herff Jones Co., a manufacturer of high school and college class rings, medals, pins, yearbooks and awards, and other recognition and motivation products, for cash and notes.
  • Purchased Alouette Snowmobile manufacturer Featherweight Corporation of Montreal, Canada
  • Purchased Forjas Taurus International Firearms
  • 23 January 1970, The New York Times Reports Conglomerates Spreading Tentacles to Boat Industry... Other major boating conglomerates include Bangor Punta, a corporation with interests in many industries. In 1965, Bangor Punta began acquiring boat makers and today owns at least seven in the country. They are Jensen Marine, Luhrs, O'Day, Seagoing Boats, Star‐Craft, Duo‐Marine, and Rent‐A‐Cruise of America. Bangor Punta's products range from luxury cruisers to runabouts and houseboats.

1971

  • Appeared on Fortune 500 List ranked as # 304 with Revenues of $337.5 million; Profits (- Loss) of -$0.5 million; Assets of $347.5 Million; Stockholders' Equity of $134.2 million. Employees numbered 9,020.
  • Chris-Craft Industries, Inc. v. Piper Aircraft Corp. (1971): The lawsuit, filed in 1971, alleged that Bangor Punta and its subsidiary, Piper Aircraft, had engaged in various illegal and manipulative practices in order to acquire control of Cessna. Some of the specific allegations included insider trading, market manipulation, and the use of false and misleading statements during the takeover battle. The case was litigated in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. In 1973, the district court ruled in favor of Chris-Craft, finding that Bangor Punta and Piper Aircraft had indeed violated federal securities laws. The court awarded Chris-Craft $34.5 million in damages. Bangor Punta appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which upheld the district court's ruling. Subsequently, the case reached the Supreme Court of the United States in 1976. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court reversed the lower courts' rulings, holding that Chris-Craft had not demonstrated a causal connection between the alleged securities law violations and its failure to acquire control of Cessna. In other words, the Court found that Chris-Craft could not prove that it would have been successful in acquiring Cessna had it not been for Bangor Punta's illegal actions.

1972

  • Appeared on Fortune 500 List ranked as # 386 with Revenues of $275.2 million; Profits of $2.3 million; Assets of $332.9 Million; Stockholders' Equity of $135.2 million. Employees numbered 8,100.
  • Sold Alouette / Featherweight Corporation to Coleco (Canada) Ltd., a recreation and toy manfuacturer.

1973

  • Appeared on Fortune 500 List ranked as # 413 with Revenues of $277.1 million; Profits of $0.3 million; Assets of $315.8 Million; Stockholders' Equity of $135.0 million. Employees numbered 8,306.
  • Purchased Jensen Marine and Ranger Yachts
  • The New York Times, 7 April 1973 reported that David W. Wallace, the 49‐year‐old president of Bangor Punta since 1967 and chief executive officer since 1969, said that the chairmanship would not be filled. In a Court of Appeals ruling last month, the company was told to pay damages to ChrisCraft Industries, following a 1967–69 battle between the two companies for control of the Piper Aircraft Corporation. Bangor Punta now owns 52 per cent of Piper.
  • 1973-11-29: JENSEN MARINE, one of the companies making up the gigantic Bangor Punta Company, is another firm that will feel the pinch of the fuel shortage, but judging from its formal opening of five new buildings at its huge complex in Costa Mesa just recently, it is geared to shift from one type of boat to another.

    Jensen is known best for its famous Cal yachts, starting at 20 feet and ranging upward to 40 feet and more. However, the company makes Ranger yachts, Luhrs power boats, DeFever trawlers and even Balboa Motor Homes.

1974

  • Sold Waukesha Motor Company division and selected assets of its Waukesha's Clinton, Iowa plant to Dresser Industries, Inc. for $10 Million after turning down an offer from a group of Waukesha Motor Company executives of a reported $23 million.
  • Appeared on Fortune 500 List ranked as # 413 with Revenues of $340.7 million; Profits of $1.7 million; Assets of $328.0 Million; Stockholders' Equity of $128.4 million. Employees numbered 9,852.
  • 13 January 1974 The New York Times: [Fuel] Shortages Threaton Annual Growth of Boating Industry reported that Bangor Punta Corporation derives about one-third of its revenues, amounting to $346 million in the year ended 30 September 1973 from recreational products. A portion of these products is for boating in the form of such items as Starcraft cruisers, Duo runabouts, Luhrs power cruisers, and O'Day sailboats.
  • In June, Bangor Punta Corporation announced that its recreational products group is expanding its boating line with the introduction of a new series of offshore Diesel-powered trowlers. The cruisers, designed by naval architect Arthur De Fever, were unveiled to the boating industry at a press conference held recently in Newport Beach, California. The boats will be built in Japan, Taiwan and at Bangor Punta's Jensen Marine facilities in Costa Mesa, California, and Marlboro, New Jersey. Marketing will be handled through Bangor Punta's network of marine dealers.
  • June 19,1974 Bangor Punta Operations, Inc. v. Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Company, Docket No. 73-718 was decided in favor of Bangor Punta by the United States Supreme Court.
  • PIPER AIRCRAFT CORPORATION 820 East Bald Eagle St., Lock Haven, Pa. 17745 - 110,802 shares of common stock, owned by record by Bangor Punta Corporation and being offered by Bangor Punta in a rescission offer to those former holders of Piper common stock (and their assignees) who accepted Bangor Punta's general exchange offer of July 18, 1969, to all Piper stockholders. Under the terms of the rescission offer, which is being made in compliance with an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Bangor Punta is offering to return to those persons their Piper common stock in exchange for the Bangor Punta securities issued to them (adjusted for dividend and interest payments). Piper designs, manufactures and sells a diversified line of single-engine and twin-engine aircraft (other than jets) for the general aviation market and replacement parts for its aircraft. (SEC File 2-52331 - Nov. 14, 1974)

1975

  • Appeared on Fortune 500 List ranked as # 451 with Revenues of $330.7 million; Profits (- Loss) of -$34.5 million; Assets of $250.7 Million; Stockholders' Equity of $92.6 million. Employees numbered 6,218.
  • Universal Cooperative Incorporated purchased the agri-products division of Starcraft, a subsidiary of Bangor Punta Corporation for an undisclosed amount of cash. Starcraft Is recognized as one of the leaders in the livestock equipment field. - January 1975

1976

  • 5 April 1976: Supreme Court agreed to hear Bangor Punta's appeal of thejudgment again them in the Chris-Craft lawsuit. Briefs were filed, and on 6 October 1976, BPs lawyers argued before the nine justices of the Court in Washington, DC.
  • On March 22. 1976 an agreement was reached with members ot the Piper family settling their $13 million claim for approximately $5 4 million.
  • In April. Bangor Punta completed a court ordered rescission offer to Piper shareholders who had accepted a Bangor exchange offer in 1969. No one exercised this opportunity to recover shares of Piper Aircraft Corporation. This would seem to reaffirm the soundness and fairness of the original offer.
  • Piper Pays Higher Dividend: The attractiveness of Bangor Punta's investment in Piper Aircraft was enhanced by that company's remarkable sales and earnings performance in fiscal 1976. Piper continued to sell strongly in the general aviation market while broadening its product line with the introduction of more sophisticated airplanes. A measure of Piper's success is the fact that the company, buoyed by record sales of $211 million, tripled its earnings and increased its dividends.

1977

  • July: Canadian Pacific sought to purchase a majority stake in Bangor Punta (BusinessWeek, 7/18/1977, Issue 2492, p23-23, 1/2p)
  • Sold Forjas Taurus to a group of Brazillian Investors

1978

  • Bangor's nine-year legal battle for control of the Piper Aircraft Corp. against the Chris-Craft Industries Inc. ended in March, freeing the company to focus on its business.
  • Appeared on Fortune 500 List ranked as # 365 with Revenues of $567.6 million; Profits of $18.1 million; Assets of $395.4 Million; Stockholders' Equity of $130.4 million. Employees numbered 12,800.
  • Jensen Marine Corporation ceases operations on 5/17/1978.

1979

  • Appeared on Fortune 500 List ranked as # 347 with Revenues of $656.1 million; Profits of $24.0 million; Assets of $441.6 Million; Stockholders' Equity of $155.6 million. Employees numbered 14,165.
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Bangor Punta Era

The Bangor Punta era, lasted approximately twenty years -- from 1964 to 1984.

History will likely remember the company for its tenacity in pursuing acquisitions; their high-profile corporate executives; and, two United States Supreme Court cases that the company was involved in during its short life span.

Nostalgic History

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