THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 4, 1996 TAG: 9604040311
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
Oliver North is going public.
The former Marine who was a key White House figure in the Iran-Contra scandal, is preparing to offer the public stock in his bulletproof vest company.
According to papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and reported in Wednesday's editions of The Washington Post, Guardian Technologies International Inc., the company co-founded by North in 1989, plans to raise $3.6 million next year by selling 850,000 shares at $5.10 each.
The company, headquartered in Sterling, Va., plans to pay North an annual salary of $150,000 once the shares are sold, and more money in subsequent years, according to the SEC filing. It said it will use the money from the stock issue to build offices and a factory, and to hire a sales team.
The company sells protective vests through police and government contracts and now has more than 850 active customers, according to the filing. It reported accumulated losses of about $400,000 for 1994 and 1995.
North was convicted in 1989 of aiding in the obstruction of Congress, accepting illegal gratuities and destroying documents related to the financing of anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua with proceeds from the sale of weapons to Iran. The convictions were overturned in 1990.
North was the Republican nominee in Virginia for a U.S. Senate seat in 1994. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Oliver North
by CNB