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20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/International Signal and Control.md
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summary: "Lancaster defense contractor merged into Ferranti in 1987, whose fictitious contracts cost Ferranti 215 million pounds and whose South African shipments led to the 1991 indictments and a 1997 Armscor plea."
location: "Lancaster, Pennsylvania"
created: 2026-10-08
updated: 2026-10-08
updated: 2026-10-12
relations:
- type: owned
with: "[[James Guerin]]"
@ -88,13 +88,13 @@ Timmerman wrote that ISC had developed the fuze for the Rockeye cluster bomb on
### London listing and the Ferranti merger, 1987 to 1989
Guerin listed the company in London rather than on the New York Stock Exchange. British investors never warmed to the stock, and after it fell in 1987 he merged the company with Ferranti.[^1] The merger was announced in September 1987, and Ferranti acquired ISC in November 1987.[^6][^7] The Lancaster newspaper reports a price of 670 million dollars in its 2005 account and a 1.5 billion dollar deal in its 2022 account.[^4][^8] Ferranti's chairman [[Derek Alun-Jones]] remained chairman and Guerin became deputy chairman.[^1] [[Peat Marwick]], ISC's accountants during the merger, and the London merchant bank [[Robert Fleming & Co.|Robert Fleming]], financial adviser to the company, were expected in 1989 to be asked how they failed to detect any phantom contracts.[^1]
Guerin listed the company in London rather than on the New York Stock Exchange. British investors never warmed to the stock, and after it fell in 1987 he merged the company with Ferranti.[^1] The merger was announced in September 1987, and Ferranti acquired ISC in November 1987.[^6][^7] The Lancaster newspaper reports a price of 670 million dollars in its 2005 account and a 1.5 billion dollar deal in its 2022 account.[^4][^8] Ferranti's chairman [[Derek Alun-Jones]] remained chairman and Guerin became deputy chairman.[^1] The [[Washington Post]] reported in 1989 that [[Peat Marwick]] had been ISC's accountants during the merger, and that Peat Marwick and [[Robert Fleming & Co.|Robert Fleming]], financial adviser to the company, were expected to be asked how they failed to detect any phantom contracts.[^1]
A Ministry of Defence letter of September 12, 1989 told the Prime Minister's office that when the merger was announced, Sir [[Clive Whitmore]] and Sir [[Peter Levene]] sought an explanation from Alun-Jones, whose account was "sufficiently unconvincing" for the [[Ministry of Defence]] to order secret enquiries. The enquiries showed that ISC and Guerin "had close contacts with the South African government," and that ISC had been involved in "a certain amount of two-way trade in missile equipment and technology." The [[Department of Trade and Industry]] was told in May 1988, and Alun-Jones was told of the ministry's concerns in July 1988. The letter states that the divestment of ISC Technologies by Ferranti and Guerin's resignation were, in the ministry's belief, partly a result of that warning, that Ferranti had expected ISC Technologies to take its overseas contracts with it, and that Guerin was unable to raise the funds to finance the acquisition. It records "an alleged connection between ISC and a UK company involved in the European network of companies providing technology for the CONDOR missile programme."[^6]
### Ferranti's discovery, 1989
Guerin resigned in May 1989 after seeking unsuccessfully to buy back ISC.[^1] Ferranti suspended trading in its shares on September 11, 1989, and told shareholders that its board had come to "suspect significant irregularities" in overseas contracts of ISC Technologies, appointing [[Coopers & Lybrand]] to investigate.[^6][^9] The Ministry of Defence letter records that Alun-Jones put the sums at issue at about 200 million pounds, enough to put Ferranti's loan agreement with its bankers in default, and that the contract was supposed to be with Pakistan for "missile know-how," through a series of intermediaries, with the work supposed to have been done in South Africa. The letter describes the nature and substance of the contract as "in considerable doubt," and states that the ministry's Secretary of State regarded it as a matter of considerable concern that a major British company might have links with South Africa in the defense field.[^6]
Guerin resigned in May 1989 after seeking unsuccessfully to buy back ISC.[^1] Ferranti suspended trading in its shares on September 11, 1989, and told shareholders that its board had come to "suspect significant irregularities" in overseas contracts of ISC Technologies, appointing [[Coopers & Lybrand]] to investigate, "and not Peat Marwick, who are Ferranti's auditors."[^6][^9] The Ministry of Defence letter records that Alun-Jones put the sums at issue at about 200 million pounds, enough to put Ferranti's loan agreement with its bankers in default, and that the contract was supposed to be with Pakistan for "missile know-how," through a series of intermediaries, with the work supposed to have been done in South Africa. The letter describes the nature and substance of the contract as "in considerable doubt," and states that the ministry's Secretary of State regarded it as a matter of considerable concern that a major British company might have links with South Africa in the defense field.[^6]
According to British press reports, [[Pakistan]] officials claimed the contract never existed, while Guerin's longtime associate [[Clyde Ivy]] claimed it did. A former Pakistani official said ISC had held a contract with the Pakistani Air Force for cluster bombs or cluster-bomb technology in 1985 and 1986 that was completed.[^1] A Prime Minister's private office note of October 2, 1989 on a meeting of ministers records that the [[Serious Fraud Office]] was awaiting the Coopers & Lybrand findings, that Ferranti would probably have to write off about 215 million pounds, some of which might be recovered from Peat Marwick, who had advised Ferranti on ISC's financial position before the merger, and that "there were allegations that ISC had been involved in supplying defence equipment to South Africa, China and [[Iran]] among others, although it seemed likely that these activities were confined to the US."[^6]