DCC plc is a leading Irish international sales, marketing and support services group operating in 22 countries. Headquartered in Dublin, the Group operates across three sectors: energy, healthcare and technology, employing over 16,000. DCC plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was founded by Jim Flavin in 1976 as Development Capital Corporation Limited. Originally the company focused on providing venture capital to start ups, however in the mid-1980s it changed direction and became an industrial holding company, changing its name to DCC and floating on the Irish Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange in 1994. The company was embroiled in a controversy over the issue of insider trading in Fyffes plc, the Irish fruit importing company in which a subsidiary of DCC, Lotus Green, held a stake which was sold in the year 2000. In 2002 Fyffes sued DCC over the sale of its stake in the company. The case was tried in the Irish High Court from December 2004 until July 2005, and on 21 December 2005 judgement was handed down. DCC was cleared of insider trading, although it was found to have been acting as a "single entity" with Lotus Green and Jim Flavin with regards to the sale of the shares. Fyffes appealed to the Supreme Court of Ireland and, in a judgement on 27 July 2007, the Supreme Court overturned the High Court's verdict and ruled that the documents that had been in Flavin's possession when DCC sold the shares had indeed been price sensitive. In April 2008, Fyffes settled its case against DCC for an amount of €37.6 million. As a result of this case, DCC and Flavin came under the examination of the Irish Director of Corporate Enforcement. In January 2010, The report of the High Court Inspector into the affairs of DCC plc was published. The Director of Corporate Enforcement concluded that no further action was warranted by his Office. In 2011, DCC bought Maxol's Home Heating company, Maxol Direct, which it re-branded as Emo. In 2012, DCC spent around €100 million acquiring LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) distribution businesses in the Netherlands, Britain, Sweden and Norway. In August 2014, DCC announced that it reached an agreement with ExxonMobil to acquire the Esso Express petrol station network and the Esso Motorway concessions in France. The company joined the FTSE 100 share