CHC

"On Monday, October 19, 1987, stock markets around the world suffered their largest one-day decline in history, shaking the faith of investors the world over. Many took years to fully recover their losses. CHC’s 1P0 was the last in Canada before Black Monday, and shares of the company that had been snatched up at $10 dropped within a week to $2.50. Had the 1P0 been delayed by two weeks, it clearly would have failed. John Lecky would have retained his company and the one million dollars, and Craig Dobbin would have withdrawn to St. John’s, devoting his time to paying down the massive mortgages on everything he owned. But the luck of the Irish kicked in. Instead, Dobbin’s credit was up to AAA, and his prospects were brighter than ever."

"Of all cc executives, past and present, none generates more open admiration from her peers than Christine Baird. “She handled all international marketing for the company during the 1990s,” one former CHC executive says, shaking his head. “Here’s this attractive young woman travelling by herself to some very nasty places in the world, including the most dangerous regions of Africa and Azerbaijan, places you and I might not go in a group, and she’s all alone. Christine would enter government offices in countries where women were not permitted to vote or drive cars and negotiate deals with power and authority. She was able to get in-country, make the contacts, get the business and come out alive. She was absolutely tenacious, able to target key players.”"

"THE STAFF AND executives Craig Dobbin gathered around him justified his claim that his job function was closer to casting director than to CEO. Most continue to this day in responsible positions at CHC, vital to the company’s remarkable global success."

"Back on this side of the Atlantic, Dobbin grew intrigued by Helicopter Welders Ltd., a Langley, B.C., firm engaged in servicing and rebuilding helicopters, and he proposed the purchase of the company to the cuc board of directors. The board was cool to the idea. In a fit of pique, Dobbin purchased it himself, changed its name to Heli-Welders of Canada, and installed the now unemployed J.C. Jones to manage it. Within a few months Heli-Welders had expanded significantly, growing from a staff of twenty-eight to . sixty employees and producing substantial profits. With a degree of understandable smugness, Dobbin sold his private company to CHC and pocketed the profit."

"N 1992, CHC COULD rightly claim the title of third-largest helicopter services company in the world. Helicopter Services Group (Hsq), a Norwegian firm, was the clear leader measured by gross income, followed by the U.K.’s Bristow Group. Third place may have impressed others, but it was never acceptable for Craig Dobbin. cuc, he was determined, would become the dominant firm in its industry, and he was too impatient to wait around while it grew from within. He would expand the company through acquisition, and the beginnings of an opportunity presented itself on November 5, 1991, through an event in the waters of the Atlantic off the Canary Islands."

"AT SIXTY YEARS of age, Craig Dobbin could have decided to relax a little. Instead, he geared up to extend cHc’s size and clout in the same manner as he had been doing for almost twenty years: by playing harder and longer than his competitors. When the opportunity presented itself, he would liquidate them through the simple technique of swallowing them whole. As impressive as his success might have been under ordinary circumstances, the way in which he achieved it—against a challenge as unexpected as it was deadly—remains one of the most remarkable tales in Canadian business history."