Garda buying security firm

MONTREAL— Garda World Security Corp. is buying a United States- based investigation and security company with clients that include the biggest U. S. corporations as well as the military. Garda plans to buy Vance International for $67.25 million (U.S.) from holding company SPX Corp. Vance, based in Virginia with offices in Boston, New York, Miami, London and Mexico City, has annual revenues of $ 155 million. The acquisition would give Garda entry into the big and secretive world of private corporate investigations in the U. S. American companies are quicker than Canadian ones to bring security problems or internal fraud investigations to a private company rather than to the police, chief executive officer Stephan Cretier said at a news conference at Garda’s tightly secured headquarters.