Mag-Torc
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | |
| Fate | Still in Operation |
| Founded | 48.01.08E ACC |
| Founder | Kidra Mag |
| Headquarters | Torc Sodiir , |
Area served | International |
| Products | Endixar Class mining ship |
Number of employees | 10.3 million (14.06.12E ACC) |
Mag-Torc is an Andrastan conglomerate company which started as a mineral extraction company, but has since expanded its interests to become one of the largest companies in the Combine. Mag-Torc was founded during the 'Unification Era' in the city of Torc Sodiir, which at the time was the capital city of the Tarbikurn Congress. As of 14.06.12E ACC the company is worth approximately 48.2 billion Trell, making it one of the most valuable companies in the Combine.
Mag-Torc uses its own brand for marketing and does not trade under any other trademarks or brands, making it a rarity among Andrastan conglomerates. The company was owned Mag family until the end of the 10th Era when it was sold to investment bankers Uleth Ost and Hanra Vir, who began expanding the companies interests beyond mineral extraction and refining. Despite often being referred to as a corporation Mag-Torc remains a company under Andrastan law.
In 94.04.12E ACC Mag-Torc acquired Zeta Fabrikan, and incorporated its assets into the company structure, enabling Mag-Torc to begin developing and manufacturing its own star ship systems. Prior to this Mag-Torc had only ever designed and constructed reactors and power converters for space craft. Upon assimilating the Zeta Fabrikan manufacturing facilities and development departments Mag-Torc produced its first commercially available sublight drive, the MDD AX-3, in 04.05.12E ACC, and its first FTL drive, the SMC(12) AX-1, in 09.05.12E ACC.
Company Name
Mag-Torc took its name from the family name of its founder, Kidra Mag, and the city in which it was based, Torc Sodiir. This method of naming was fairly common for companies within the Tarbikurn Congress at the time, largely due to tax criteria which favoured family owned local businesses. When the company was sold to the ancestors of its present owners, Uleth Ost and Hanra Vir, in 73.16.10E ACC during the tumult of unification under the Authority the name was retained in large part due to the fact that Mag-Torc had become a well regarded and trusted brand. Such was Mag-Torc's reputation for the reliability of its goods that the soldiers who had fought against the Tarbikurn Congression Army during the War of Unification had regularly tried to capture Mag-Torc manufactured cargo crawlers and logistical vehicles intact for their own use. According to the official history of Mag-Torc provided on the multi-net page Marshal Judir Lum of the Authority's First Junta, was particularly crucial in the decision to keep the Mag-Torc name, after he referred to the Mag-Torc HDCC BM-5 cargo crawler as "The only reason the TCA (Tarbikurn Congressional Army) managed to hold off the Authority as long as they did."
History
Mag-Torc was founded in Torc Sodiir by Kidra Mag in 48.01.08E ACC. Mag had made the money he invested in establishing the business by selling war bonds for the Tarbikurn Ministry for War, something for which he had received a 5% commission per bond sold, provided he sold more than fifty per month. Kidra Mag was well known in Torc Sodiir for the highly successful and notably garish Bond Rallies he had organised throughout his adult life, and had formed an agreement with a number of local mine owners to purchase their mines once he had the funds. Prior to the formation of Mag-Torc Kidra Mag had worked for his father-in-law's company which maintained industrial and cargo vehicles in marketing, though he was himself descended from a long line of iron miners. While he raised the funds necessary to buy out the mine owners he had also negotiated a deal to work as a mine supervisor for Thiba Ush of the Ush-Pen Mining Company - a company that would later be absorbed by Mag-Torc in 72.01.08E ACC.
During Kidra Mag's tenure as the director of the company Mag-Torc grew to become the third largest mining company in the Tarbikurn Congress and had begun the process of establishing itself as a steel and brass manufacturer. The company was inherited by Mag's eldest daughter Ydira Mag up his retirement in 89.01.08E ACC, and Ydira would continue to expand Mag-Torc's industrial assets essentially building its fledgling mineral refinement assets from the ground up. The next three generations of the Mag family (Idril, Namur, and Ostla) were all highly ambitious and driven individuals who had been brought up working in low-end management positions within the company, and under their directorship Mag-Torc continued to grow in size and value well into the 2nd century of the 8th Era.
However the 86.02.08E ACC appointment of Lqaal Mag resulted in the company's first major controversy. Lqaal held the directorship of the company for four years before being ousted by his cousin Yanuu Mag in 90.02.08E ACC. During Lqaal's tenure a number of poorly judged investments and overly ambitious programmes saw Mag-Torc's profits dip sharply, additionally his response to the 87.02 crash in the value of refined hydrocarbons proved disastrous and wiped out an estimated 87% of the companies cash reserves, as he tried to maintain the value of hydrocarbons by buying up stock for above market value. The ousting of Lqaal Mag was subject to a great deal of media attention at the time and was seen as controversial due to claims by Lqaal that he had been forced to sign over the company under physical duress.