New-York tribune., 1919-05-20
Marine Deal
On Again With
British Syndicate
Franklin, Returning From
England, Says Offer Has
Been Renewed; Board to
Consider Proposal To-day

The international Mercantile Ma
rne deal, involving the sale of the
company's British ships and other as
sets to an English syndicate, is on
again President P A. S. Franklin,
who returned to this city Sunday from
trip to London, where the ncgotia-
tions had been reopencd, made the an
nouncemcnt yesterday following a spc-
cial meeting of the I. NJ. NJ. directors.
Another meeting of the board will take
place this afternoon to consider fur
ther the details of the plan.
Mr.. Franklin made it plain that in
the event the sale is consummated it is
the intention of the International Mer-
camille Marine Company to stay in
business strictly American cor
poration. TIE terms of the British
offer, he said, were approximately
Identical with those which were thrown
into the discard by the plan of the
United States Shipping Board to ac-
qure the company's British fleet. The
amount involved was about $4,000, 900.
represented the cost p-ice of the ships.
the remaining $40, 100000 being the
value placed on the cash holdings and
investments of the English owned
companies.
With the proviso that the deal with
the British goes through Mr.. Frank. n
also stated that it was the intention
OF the management of the international
Mercantile Marine to expand it's busi-
ness by adding to its American fleet
should legislation be effected that
would enable the company to compete
with the shipping companies of other
nations in the markets of the world
IN an informal statement following
yesterdays meeting he said:
Price Unchanged
I'VE have had an offer to purchase
the ships and other assets Of the Brit
lsh-owned companies of the Interna-
tlonal Mercantile Marine Company.
which is now being considered bv the
BOARD OF directors and the finance COM
ml1tee. AS soon as that is done and
the board reaches a conclusion | will
have something more to say. The price
involved in the present negotiations is
about the same as that contained in thu
original offer Should the Offer be ac-
cepted the directors and shareholders
VIII decide the question of whether il
VIII be wise to liquidate the COMPANY
III the United States government
Will pass legislation which will result
IN the rvpectation of getting satisfac-
tory results for our shareholders it is
our intention to go ahead with plans
Tor expanding our American SHIPPING
tacllltles. This may involve the TAX.
ing over of additional ships if the
right price can be arranged. We are
very anxious to develop under the
American flag and get the American
merchant marine established in for
cgn trade.
IF great American merchant ma
rine is to be established it must not
be brldled, but should be allowed to
compete with other nations under the
law OF supply and demand and on equa,
terms"
Sale of the British owned ships of
the /. M. NJ Company would involve
approximately $4,000 gross tons out
of a total of 9S4,OOO gross tons now
under the American, British and
Belgian flags. The ships flying the
American flag have an aggregate tom
mage of $4,000. The American feet
is operated by the Atlantic Transport
Company.
The English companies include the
international Navigation Company,
Ltd, the Ocean Steam Navigation Com
pany Ltd, the British and North
American, Ltd, and majority owner
ship in the stock of Frederick Lev
land & Co., Ltd.
Stocks Rise Sensationally
Yesterdays session of the board of
directors was preceded by sensational
advances in the preferred and COM
mon stocks of the I. M. M. Company,
both rising to new high record prices.
The preferred went to 1878, compared
with the previous high record quota
tlon of 125as reached in 1915. The
common touched 58A, contrasted with
50Hs, the previous high, also reached
in 1916, when reports we're current
that the directors we're consde ring
plans to pay off all the back dividends
on the preferred stock then amounting
to more than so per cent The ar
rearage now stands at 67 per cent.
The company's per cent bonds were
also buoyant, closing at 103A. In the
event of liquidation of the company
these bonds are callable at 110 and
interest