The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-16
MERGER PLANS NOW WELL UNDER WAY Proposed Terms Are Not
 Yet Made Public GRENFELL'S VIEWS Untermeyer Is Counsel for Commit tee Which Is Now Working De-
 tails of Merger of Ala
 bama Concerns
GRENFELL'S VIEWS


 tion for the consolidation of the South ern Iron and Steel company, the Ala bama Consolidated Coal and Iron com rany, the. Lake Borgue Canal conl- pany and other properties in the VI cjnity of the Birmingham district was the statement heard today in Wal street from persons acquainted with the progress of the proposition.
 Joseph H. Hoadley, president of the Alabama Consolidated Coal and Iron company, subsidiary of the 1nterna- tional Power company. has charge of the negotiations. Samuel Untermeyer is the legal end of the prop osition. Hayden Stone & Co, it is un- derstood, are to finance the consolida- tion, but at their offices no definite as to the exact details could be had today. Cecil Grenfell of Bourke, Schiff & Co.,. of London, who has been in this country for several months working out the details of the merger and who has just returned from an inspection trip to the grounds of the property in Alabam is more willing to talk and declares that plans for the consolidation are practically complete.
 New Corporation
 Last month a new corporation was organized in New Jersey with a nom- inal capitalization to become the hold ing company of the consolidation un- der the title of the Alabama Consoli dated Iron, Coal and Steel company.
 The Southern Iron and Steel com pany, it will be recalled, was the sue cessor of the Southern Steel company which went into a reeeivership in 1908 and was 'reorganized under the new title. It was said today that if any hitch arose to block the consolidation it would be because of opposition from bondh olders of this latter concern. Ii was pointed out that they believe their is well worth the capital rep resented in 1t and that they preferred for this reason to go 1t alone until the opportunity might arise for then 10 sell out 10 one of the, already es- tablished steel concerns like the Re public Iron and Steel company or tht United States Steel corporation itself They intimate that they have hat enough reorganization without any particularly gratifying results.
 This view Is not expressed by al of them, but few disgruntled holders now and then cause such confusion ir the working out of a big proposition Ike this merger that some of the par ties to the consolidation are not as optimistic over the possibilities of the final success of the scheme as is MT Grenfell.
 MT. Grenfell says that the new cap- ital will certainly be supplied by Hay den, Stone s& Co.,, and that the basis upon which the securities of the pres ent companies will be purchased has been agreed upon. The entire plan will he announced, he says, within a few days.
 Grenfell Talks
 "rhe great asset of the consolidation said MT. Grenfell, is that a single corpoi'- alton is formed with immense bodies of coal and ore, blast furnaces. and mills complete for manufacturing the products The Southern Iron and Steel company, the stock of which is controlled in Europe
 
 times. and it was for the purpose if pos sibe of saving tne investments in this country and in Europe that I came here and devoted my entire time to studying the problem"
 At the request of security holders ol both the principal companies to be con solidated committee has been appointed to formulate a merger either by direct ownership or by the acquisition of control or both by new company. This commit tee includes Cecil A. Grehfel, Alexander J. Hemphill, vice president of the Guaran- tv Trust company of New York: Charles Hayden of Hayden. Stone & Co.,: Benja- min Strong. Jr, of the Bankers Trust of New York, and Henry NJ Melville of Montreal.
 Default has been made in the payment of interest on the first and refunding Ter cent mortgage bonds of the Southern Iron and Steel company and on its per cent gold debentures.
 Holders of the Southern company's first and refunding mortgage 20-year-goll bond, per cent gold debentures, one year per cent notes, preferred stock and common stock have been notified that Ed win G. Merrill. John w. PIatten and Henry Bromner have consented to act as a committee for the protection of the in terests of those wh shall becme parties to an agreement. Joline. Larkin and Rathbone are counsel and H. M. Popham of so Broadway is secretary of. the com mttee.
 The agreement embodying the basis oi the proposed merger and reorganization being prepared by the committee, will be filed with the Bankers Trust company under which security holders will be in vited to deposit their securities. Samuel is counsel and Arthur NJ Wickwire, secretary. for this committee
 Mr. Untermeyer when asked to day if he would not state the exact terms of the merger, said that they had not vet been drafted and the task now before the committee was to agree upon what these terms should be. It was said from another. source that notwithstanding the of Mir. Grenfell and others ir the success of the merger. that the bank CTS interested were watching closely the terms that are to be submitted to them From this same source 1t was also stated ttat the committee would first take ur and pass upon the feasibility of the con before entering into the formu- lation of the agreement.
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