Deals & Mergers

Wood Pulp. Ten of the largest saw mills in northern Sweden, producing about one-fifth of Sweden's pulp and having assets of $75,000,000, were last week merged by the formation of a holding company to be controlled by Kreuger & Toll (financial company of the Swedish match trust). They will be given a unified selling agency and the holding company will build a new sulphate pulp factory.

Dry Goods. United Dry Goods Corp. was founded to unite a group of wholesale dry goods concerns, including Finch Van Slyke & McConville of St. Paul; Watts, Ritter of Huntington (W. Va.); Walton N. Moore of San Francisco; Arbuthnot, Stephenson of Pittsburgh; A. Krolik of Detroit. Assets in this merger total $25,000,000. Its purpose: to combat chain stores and others buying directly from the manufacturer by forming a chain of middlemen. Possible future additions to the merger: Ely & Walker of St. Louis; Carson, Pirie, Scott of Chicago; Hibben, Hollweg of Indianapolis; Perkins of Dallas.

Chemicals & Dyes. Solvay & Co., great Belgian chemical company, planned to acquire through its subsidiary Solvay American Investment Corp., 100,000 additional shares of Allied Chemical & Dye Corp. At present prices, the shares will cost more than $32,000,000. To finance the operation $25,000,000 of 5 1/2% cumulative preferred stock of Solvay American will be sold, this stock carrying warrants permitting the purchase until 1934 of Allied Chemical & Dye stock at $325, one share for each four shares of Solvay American preferred. When the operation is complete Solvay will hold 466,488 shares of Allied Chemical & Dye, more than 20% of the 2,178,109 outstanding.

Department Store. When nearly two months ago R. H. Macy & Co. bought L. Bamberger & Co., great Newark department store (TIME, July 8), the price paid was not disclosed, was left to be inferred from Bamberger's earnings of $2,915,375 in 1928. Last week R. H. Macy filed application with the New York Stock Exchange to list 146.385 additional shares of stock. Of this number 69,210 shares (worth at the present market nearly $15,000,000) were given in part payment to the stockholders of L. Bamberger. The remaining 77,175 shares were offered at $145 to Macy stockholders, netting $11,190,375 of which nearly all will be used to complete the purchase. The sale price was therefore $25,000,000 or a little more.

Rubber. On 114 acres of land at Akron, Ohio are manufactured some 45,000 automobile tires and 35,000 pairs of rubber boots and shoes every day. On 96 acres of land at Watertown, Mass, are manufactured some 3,500 automobile tires, 150 solid truck tires and 75,000 pairs rubber boots and rubber soled shoes daily. The two will be united. B. F. Goodrich Co. of Akron last week arranged to take over all the assets & liabilities of Hood Rubber Co. of Watertown, paying one share of Goodrich for every two shares of Hood outstanding.

Radio Tubes. National Union Radio Corp., a $16,000,000 company, was formed to unite the Sonatron Tube Co., Televocal Corp., Marathon Co. and the Magnatron Co. The combined capacity of these companies (to which others may be added) is said to be between 25 and 35 million radio tubes a year. Fifty million tubes were sold in 19:8; 80 million are expected to be sold in 1929. In tube production the new merger will thus be a rival for Radio Corp. with which it has reciprocal patent licensing arrangements.