For Immediate Release

New York, NY - October 15, 2026 - L. M. Levie, Chairman of American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC), attended the New York premiere of Lady Liberty: Secrets of an Icon at La Maison Française of New York University. The evening was co-organized and hosted by La Maison Française of NYU and the NYU Institute of French Studies in commemoration of the 140th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty.

Lady Liberty: Secrets of an Icon is a 55-minute historical docu-drama directed by Julien Johan and produced by Gedeon Programmes for PBS and ARTE. The film follows sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi on his transatlantic journeys and traces the inventive public subscription campaigns, an early form of crowdfunding, that financed the monument in France and the United States. Using original 3D virtual reconstructions of Bartholdi's Paris studio, the film shows the physical construction of the statue against the turbulent political climate of both nations. It features commentary from François Blanchetière of the Musée d'Orsay, Juliette Chevée of the Bartholdi Museum in Colmar, New York City historian Robert Snyder, and Sharon Ann Holt of the University of Pennsylvania.

For a link to the film trailer, please see: https://mubi.com/en/us/films/lady-liberty-secrets-of-an-icon

The film was introduced by Richard Salomon, Chairman of the Lady Liberty Initiative USA, and was followed by a live panel discussion and audience Q&A which featured:

• Edward Berenson, Professor of History and Director of the Institute of French Studies, New York University, and author of The Statue of Liberty: A Transatlantic Story

• Michele Mitchell, Professor of History, New York University

• Annie Polland, President, Tenement Museum of New York

Also participating in the discussion were:

• Gerard J. Schriffen, Board Member, Union League Club of New York

• Seth Kaller, President, Seth Kaller, Inc., dealers in rare historic documents and artifacts

Guests viewed an exhibit of historic French and American historic documents which reflect the saga of the Statue of Liberty, on loan from Seth Kaller, Inc.

The program was followed by a champagne reception and dinner, during which guests continued the discussion of the origins and symbolic significance of the Statue of Liberty.

Mr. Levie's attendance continues a season of AIAC tributes to the Statue of Liberty's 140th anniversary. On September 19, 2026, he presented United by Her Torch, his original musical tribute to the Statue of Liberty, at a reception and dinner at the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C., following its world premiere on June 4, 2026, at the Foreign Policy Association's Annual Dinner at the New York Yacht Club. For further information, please see: https://www.aiac.com/news/aiac-presents-united-by-her-torch-at-the-embassy-of-france

Following the film premiere, Mr. Levie commented:

"For one hundred and forty years, Lady Liberty has stood in New York Harbor, welcoming the world, and this evening reminded us how much of her story began in a sculptor's studio in Paris. Julien Johan's film brings Bartholdi's long campaign vividly to life, from his Atlantic crossings to the many thousands of French and American citizens whose small gifts paid for the statue and its pedestal. Long before the word existed, Liberty was crowdfunded by two peoples who shared a single idea."

"We are proud to support La Maison Française and the Institute of French Studies at NYU, which hosted tonight's gathering, as well as the Fondation des États-Unis, a partner in the creation of this consequential film about the history of the Statue of Liberty. I am grateful as well to Professor Edward Berenson, Professor Michele Mitchell, and Annie Polland for a discussion that connected the statue's French origins to the immigrant families who first glimpsed her from the decks of arriving ships. As the anniversary of her dedication approaches on October 28, the evening was a fitting reminder that the friendship she represents remains as vital today as it was in 1886."

Mr. Levie is Trustee and Poet Laureate of The Explorers Club, Trustee of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, a Founder of the Statue of Liberty Museum, Member of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, and Member of the Ellis Island Honor Society and of its Advisory Committee. He has composed poetic and musical tributes featured at NASA, The Explorers Club, 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. His Ballad of Jane Goodall was recited on the floor of the U.S. Senate on November 18, 2025.

About La Maison Française and the Institute of French Studies at New York University

La Maison Française of New York University is NYU's center for French and Francophone culture. Founded in 1957 by Professor Germaine Brée, it occupies a nineteenth-century carriage house on Washington Mews in Greenwich Village, one of the most charming settings in the city. For nearly seven decades, La Maison Française has brought leading writers, scholars, artists, filmmakers, and public figures from France and the Francophone world to New York. Its programs of lectures, film screenings, concerts, exhibitions, and debates on culture and contemporary politics are open to the NYU community and the public, and it also offers French language classes for adults and children.

The NYU Institute of French Studies is an interdisciplinary graduate center devoted to the study of modern and contemporary France and the Francophone world. Drawing on history, politics, sociology, anthropology, and cultural studies, it trains scholars and professionals who bring a deep understanding of France to careers in academia, diplomacy, journalism, and business. The Institute is directed by Edward Berenson, Professor of History at NYU and author of The Statue of Liberty: A Transatlantic Story.

Working closely together and with NYU's Department of French Literature, Thought and Culture, La Maison Française and the Institute of French Studies make New York University one of the leading centers for French studies and Franco-American dialogue in the United States.

For further information, please see: https://as.nyu.edu/research-centers/maisonfrancaise.html

About 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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