Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-25
CLAFLTN CREDITORS
ADOPT FINAL PLANS
FOR REORGANIZATION
Creditors Will Get IS Per
Cent. in Cash and Balance
in Interest-bearing Notes.
Forming New Corporation.

| Final plans for tho reorganization Of
the II. B. Clahin Company, which re-
Gently went into the hands of receivers
have been completed and will be pre-
sented today for final approval by the
Merchandise Creditors Committee, which
will meet In New York James s. Alex
ander, president of the National Bank
of Commerce, is chairman of the Note
holders Committee which formulated
the plans.
Failure of the Clanin Company was
one of the worst blows received by the
business world for many years. Tho
company operated a chain of % large
stores throughout the country and
millions of dollars of its paper was out
standing at the time of the collapse. A
large amount Of this paper was held in
Philadelphia.
The reorganization plan provides that
the Claflin creditors shall receive Is per
cent. in cash and the balance in three
year interest bearing collateral notes
of a newly organized corporation, re-
newable for another two years.
This new company will be known as
the Mercantile Stores Corporation and
1t will acquire the assets of the II. b.
Clafiin Company the assets of John
Caflin or such portion of them as may
be deemed by the committee to be adj
vantageous, including all of the capital
stock of the % companies now in the
hands of receivers, all of the capital
stock of McCreery & Co.. of Pittsburgh;
of the Wilkes-Barre Dry Goods Com
pany, and of MacCallum & Clouthier;
S2,29O,650 par value of the capital stock
of the Scruggs, Vandervoort. Barney
Dry Goods Company (s2, $50 of COM
mon and s1s7,0O0 of preferred), 100000
par value of the capital stock of the
Higbee Company, 100000 par value COM
mon capital stock of James II. Durham
Co., s626S.OOO par value of the COM
mon stock OF the United Dry Goods
Companies, and other assets and equi-
ties owned by John .Clafin, which have
been transferred to representatives of
the noteholders committee for the beneht
of the Mercantile Corporation.
THE NEW CORPORATION.
The Mercantile Corporation will cause
to be organized a new corporation to be
known as THE II. B. Clahin Corpora
ticn,' to carry on such portion OF the
wholesale business now conducted by the
H. B. Clafin Company, a New Jersey
company, as may be deemed by the board
of directors to be advisable. 1t is con-
templated that there will be transferred
to this new corporation approximately
S6, 100000 of assets of the present II. b.
Claflin Company in exchange for its |
by the Mercantile Corporation. The value |
of the assets transferred to the H. B.
Claflin Corporation shall be as agreed |
upon by its board of directors and the |
board of directors of the Mercantile Cor
poration,
The notes will be dated December /, 1914, |
and will be issued in "a separate series,
one series to be delivered to the general
creditors of the II. B. Clafin Company
and each of the other % series to be de-
livered to the holders OF notes executed
by one OF the several companies and in
dorsed by the Fl. B. Clafin Company.
The collateral trust notes will be Sc
cured by stock collateral to be deposited
under a trust agreement with the trus-
ices to be selected by the committee The
notes received by the direct II. B. Clahln
creditors will be secured by
one-sixth of the capital stock of the
Fl. B. Claiin Corporation, the
wholesale trading company.
Each of the remaining % series of coll
ateral trust notes. being the notes re-
'eived by the noteholders, will be Sc
'ured by the entire capital stock of the
particular company, which executed the
lotes to be exchanged for the new notes.
REPORT OF RETAIL STORES
A summary of the assets and liabilities
# 20 of the % stores that executed notes
n favor OF the II. b. Clafin Company
oIloWs;