UNITED BY HER TORCH OPENS THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF NEW YORK'S HISTORIC 140TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER HONORING THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

Following the dinner, Gerard Schriffen, the Member of the Union League Club who appeared in Raislng Lady Liberty, conducted a private tour of the artwork of the club for Mr. Levie and his invited guests. He highlighted portratits, cityscapes, and landscapes with notable subjects or historic significance.

Mr. Levie issued the following statement:

"One hundred and forty years ago, the Union League Club opened its doors to the men who had borne Liberty across the Atlantic - brave builders of a beacon that would burn for the ages. On Monday night, it opened them once more, not to dwell in the past, but to dedicate itself anew to that enduring dream. I am profoundly grateful to President Paul Meissner, to Jeffrey Eilender and the History Committee, and to every passionate, principled member of this proud Club for the rare honor of presenting United by Her Torch at so hallowed a commemoration. To stand in that storied hall alongside Ambassador de Laboulaye, and to hear Professor Berenson recount with such power and poignancy the Club's own part in her story, was a privilege I shall carry - and cherish - always."

"Let us remember that Liberty was not a gift given once, but a trust handed down to every generation. France did not build her for a single age, and America did not raise her pedestal for a single people. She was built for all who would follow: for the immigrant at the rail, for the student in the classroom, for the citizen at the ballot box. We do not keep her light because it is easy to hold; we hold it because it is ours to keep."

"In 1875, the Union League Club answered Laboulaye's call. In 2026, it answered once again. And as the anniversary of her dedication approaches on October 28, let it be said that we, too, answered, and that through this candle-lit commemorative dinner we carried her story to the generations yet to come. Lady Liberty still lifts her lamp beside the golden door. She is ours not merely to admire, but to carry forward."

Mr. Levie is a Founder of the Statue of Liberty Museum, Member of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, and Medalist and Member of the Ellis Island Honor Society and of its Advisory Committee, Trustee of the Explorers Club and the Theodore Roosevelt Association. As Poet Laureate of The Explorers Club, Mr. Levie has composed heraldic poetry and musical tributes featured in ceremonies and celebrations at NASA, the United Nations, the U.S. Senate, The Explorers Club, the Economic Club of New York, the Metropolitan Club of New York, the Cosmos Club of Washington DC, the East India Club of London, the Monaco Yacht Club, the University Club of Washington DC, the Royal Thames Yacht Club, and the Vasa Museum of Stockholm. He has composed and presented musical tributes honoring The Liberty Bell, the Royal Observatory Greenwich, Warren Buffett, Mike Bloomberg, Ted Turner, Prince Albert of Monaco, Theodore Roosevelt, Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell, Sylvia Earle, Ken Griffin, and others.

The Union League Club of New York

Founded in 1863 at the height of the Civil War, the Union League Club of New York was born out of a crisis of national identity. Among its founders were Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect who designed Central Park, and its early members included J.P. Morgan, William Cullen Bryant, and Ulysses S. Grant. The Club's founding purpose was unambiguous: to defend the Union, support the Lincoln administration, and advance the cause of loyal government at a moment when the republic itself was in doubt.

Over the decades that followed, the Club evolved into one of the most consequential civic institutions in American life. Fifteen presidents, seven senators, many congressmen, diplomats, cabinet members, and scores of chief executives have enjoyed the fellowship of the Club. Two presidents - Theodore Roosevelt and Chester A. Arthur - were members before entering the White House, while former presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Herbert Hoover were active members after leaving office. Other luminaries on the membership rolls have included J.D. Rockefeller, Sandra Day O'Connor, Neil Armstrong, and Margaret Thatcher.

Beyond its social distinction, the Club has left a lasting physical mark on New York and the nation. After the Civil War, the Club and its members helped found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, assisted in building the Statue of Liberty, and supported the construction of Grant's Tomb.

The Union League Club's connection to the Statue of Liberty is among the most important chapters in its history - and in the shared story of France and the United States. Club members assisted in building the Statue of Liberty by raising funds through Édouard de Laboulaye and William Maxwell Evarts, and the Statue's pedestal was funded through a committee chaired by Club member John Jay.

It was not until September 1876 that a committee was appointed by the Union League Club, in New York, with John Jay as its chairman, to take up the American side of the project. In January 1877, the American Committee for the construction of the pedestal was formed, with William M. Evarts elected as chairman. Evarts was the key figure in ensuring the success of the fundraising campaign; it was his years of commitment to the project and his willingness to exert his social and political influence that legitimized the campaign before the press and the public. After much persuasion from Evarts, a joint congressional resolution officially accepting the Statue as a gift from France passed on March 3, 1877.

The result of this effort - the dedication of the Statue of Liberty on October 28, 1886 - was the culmination of a vision that had been nurtured by the friendship between France and the United States, and carried forward in no small part by the members of the Union League Club. That history makes the Club a natural home for any celebration honoring the enduring bond between the two nations.

For further information, please see: https://www.unionleagueclub.org

The Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty, formally titled Liberty Enlightening the World, was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States in honor of the friendship established during the American Revolution and in celebration of their shared ideals of liberty and democracy. The idea is credited to the French jurist and abolitionist Édouard de Laboulaye, who in 1865 proposed a monument to American independence. The sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed the statue, and Gustave Eiffel, later famous for the tower in Paris that bears his name, engineered the iron framework that supports its thin copper skin.

The statue was financed through public subscription on both sides of the Atlantic: the French people paid for the statue itself, while Americans raised funds for the pedestal, designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt. When pedestal fundraising stalled, publisher Joseph Pulitzer's newspaper, the New York World, rallied more than 120,000 contributors, many of whom gave a dollar or less. Completed in Paris, the statue was disassembled and shipped to New York in 1885 aboard the French frigate Isère in more than 200 crates, then reassembled on what was then Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.

President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty on October 28, 1886. Lady Liberty holds a torch raised high in her right hand and, in her left, a tablet inscribed with the date of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, while a broken chain lies at her feet. For generations of immigrants arriving by sea, she was the first sight of the United States and an enduring symbol of welcome, a meaning deepened by Emma Lazarus's sonnet "The New Colossus," which was placed on a plaque inside the pedestal in 1903.

Designated a National Monument in 1924 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, the Statue of Liberty is administered by the National Park Service and welcomes millions of visitors each year. The Statue of Liberty Museum on Liberty Island, which opened in 2019, houses the original 1886 torch and tells the story of the statue's creation and meaning. On October 28, 2026, the United States and France will mark the 140th anniversary of its dedication, a milestone that honors not only a great work of art and engineering, but the lasting friendship between two nations that it was built to celebrate.

For further information, please see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty

About American Industrial Acquisition Corporation

American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) is a diversified industrial group with manufacturing and distribution sites in 24 countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia-New Zealand. AIAC has acquired and grown non-core subsidiaries and divisions of Boeing, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Johnson Controls, Merck, Pfizer, Astellas, Visteon, Carlyle, Ahlstrom, Tolko, Groupe Suez, Groupe Rexel, and many other leading multinational corporations.

AIAC companies serve companies and governmental entities worldwide in all major sectors, including aviation, space, defense, automotive, truck, rail, marine, petrochemical, solar, nuclear, food, beverage, civil engineering and infrastructure, commercial construction, mining, dredging, disaster relief, education, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. AIAC companies are also exclusive, authorized distributors of leading branded industrial and consumer products and serve as critical suppliers for the construction of major airports, schools, hospitals, performing arts and sports centers, offices, and hotels throughout Southeast Asia and New Zealand. AIAC is a leading manufacturer of building, street, and highway signage in Europe, and a distributor of electrical products throughout France.

Of note, AIAC purchased Boeing Canada in 2005 and has produced over 10,000 unique components for every Boeing jet plane ever since, reliably serving Boeing from manufacturing facilities in North America. A leader in ultra-high precision jet engine component manufacturing, AIAC companies produce 2,200 fan blades for each jet engine produced by GE, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, and Honeywell.

AIAC companies actively support exploration into outer space, manufacturing critical components for launching and propelling spacecraft and satellites. AIAC customers in this sector include NASA, the European Space Agency, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Boeing. AIAC companies also lead in the design and manufacture of undersea umbilical cables for worldwide oceanographic research.

AIAC companies produce the critical automotive wire and cable for Tesla, GM, Ford, Chrysler-Fiat, Toyota, and Nissan. In connection with its kraft paper manufacturing interests in Canada and the US, AIAC controls and sustainably manages 22 million acres of Manitoba, Canada forestland, an area equivalent in size to the nation of Hungary. AIAC affiliate Metallwarenfabrik Gemmingen GmbH, located in Germany, designs, manufactures, and distributes high performance, emergency portable power generators utilized in global conflict zones and during natural disasters.

For further information, please see: www.aiac.com

About AIAC in France: Industry

American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) has been investing in French industry for more than two decades, and France has become one of the most important countries in the group's worldwide portfolio. Today AIAC operates 42 administrative, manufacturing and distribution sites across France and its territories in Africa and the South Pacific, making the group a significant and long-term participant in the country's economy.

AIAC's strategy in France mirrors its approach around the world: acquiring industrial businesses, often non-core units of large multinational groups, and giving them the investment, management support and long-term commitment they need to grow.

AIAC's French companies have served virtually every industrial sector in France and across Europe. They have addressed diverse markets including automotive, truck, rail, aviation, space, defense, power generation, petro-chemical processing, food and beverage, heating and refrigeration, construction, agriculture, robotics, and infrastructure. In France, its customers include every major company and millions of consumers.

AIAC in France: Philanthropy

AIAC's commitment to France extends well beyond its industrial operations. Alongside its network of administrative, manufacturing and distribution sites across the country, AIAC and its affiliates support a wide range of French nonprofit institutions in culture, international affairs, education and space exploration.

This work reflects the broader mission of AIAC's philanthropy. Worldwide, AIAC and the AIAC Foundation support nonprofit, nonsectarian and bipartisan organizations that promote international conflict resolution, disaster relief, economic development, environmental sustainability, exploration, and the performing arts. In France, that mission takes shape through long-standing support for some of the country's most important institutions.

Culture and Heritage. AIAC supports some of France's most important cultural and heritage institutions, including the Louvre Museum, the Picasso Museum, the Rodin Museum, and La Société des Amis de Versailles, the friends' society of the Palace of Versailles. Together they represent French artistic heritage from antiquity through the modern era. AIAC also supports the French Heritage Society, which works to preserve France's architectural and cultural heritage, and La Compagnie des Mousquetaires d'Armagnac, which celebrates the traditions of Gascony and its Armagnac. AIAC Chairman L. M. Levie has also honored France's cultural landmarks with original musical tributes, presenting The Rebirth of Notre Dame on the occasion of the cathedral's reopening and A Tribute to the Eiffel Tower for its 135th anniversary, to the Arnault family and to Business France.

Performing Arts. AIAC supports the Opéra national de Paris, one of the world's great opera and ballet companies, and Chairman Levie is a member of Le Cercle Fidès of the Opéra national de Paris.

National Honor and Civic Life. AIAC supports La Grande Chancellerie de la Légion d'honneur, the institution that administers France's highest national distinctions.

International Understanding. AIAC supports the Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI), one of Europe's leading foreign policy research institutes. It also supports the Alliance Française and the French Institute/Alliance Française, which promote French language and culture and strengthen ties between France and the wider world.

Space and Exploration. Reflecting AIAC's industrial role in the space sector, the group supports the International Space University, which trains future leaders of the global space community.

A Lasting Partnership with France. AIAC's philanthropy goes hand in hand with its role as a long-term investor in the French economy. Chairman Levie served as a panelist with Laurent Fabius, then French Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Prime Minister, on Investing in France at the Consulate General of France in New York on October 1, 2015. In 2023 he was a member of the 32-person US delegation at the Choose France Summit, hosted by President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles. The delegation included Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla and SpaceX), Albert Bourla (Chairman and CEO of Pfizer), Philipp Hildebrand (Vice Chairman of BlackRock), John Waldron (President and COO of Goldman Sachs), James Gorman (Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley), Mary Callahan Erdoes (CEO of JPMorgan Asset & Wealth Management), Jane Fraser (CEO of Citi) and Israel Englander (Chairman and CEO of Millennium Management). On that occasion, he warmly greeted President Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron.

In April 2024, AIAC co-hosted François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque de France, at a breakfast and presentation at the Harvard Club of New York. Mr. Levie has hosted Ambassador Pascal Cagni and other dignitaries of Business France at The Explorers Club and often addresses American executives and investors about France's talent, infrastructure, and business environment.

For further information, please see: www.aiac.com/our-values

Media Contact

Isabel Carro-Toro, Vice President
American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
+34 689 295 827 (Spain)
+1 787 244 3175 (USA)

[email protected]

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