ST. JOSEPH LEAD WILL ABSORB DESLOGE LEAD CO |
A deal which has been pending for some weeks will come to a climax tomorrow, June 1, 1929, when stockholders of the Desloge Consolidated Lead Company will formally vote to sell their holdings to the St. Joseph Lead Company, thereby putting the Desloge company in the hands of the St. Joe and reducing the number of operating companies in this district to two.
According to information obtained by the News, the deal will call for the transfer of approximately eighteen millions of dollars in cash and securities, and the St. Joseph Lead Company will become sole owner of the Desloge Company. Of this amount, $10,700,000.00 will be cash, which will be paid for the physical assets of the Desloge company by the St. Joseph Lead Co., and the remainder will be in the form of securities which will be distributed to the stockholders of the latter company from the treasury of the Desloge Company. The Desloge Consolidated Lead Co., has total stock with a par value of one million dollars, hence the present transaction represents an enhancement in value of approximately eighteen to one for those who own stock.
That such a deal has been pending was known locally several weeks ago, but definite announcement of this, the final step, came from St. Louis early this week. Officials of the St. Joseph Lead Company have spent much time at the Desloge works for a number of weeks, making a close survey of operating conditions there and forming personal contact with the Desloge organization. Representatives of the News, in an interview with President Crane and General Manager Sicks, of the St. Joseph Lead Co., on the afternoon of May 13th, brought this subject up for discussion, but Mr. Crane stated that at that time the transaction had not progressed far enough to permit of any definite statement. He said, however, that in case the deal which he admitted was under consideration, was consummated, that it would be the policy of the St. Joseph company to merely add the Desloge operations to their group as another unit, and that the employees of the Desloge company would be retained in the organization as at present.
With the absorption of the Desloge concern by the St. Joseph Lead Company, one of the oldest mining companies of the district goes out of existence as a company. The company was started by Firmin Desloge, Louis Fusz and George Backer, and practically all of the stock still remains in the hands of the original stockholders or their descendants. Firmin Desloge is still living, and owns a large portion of the stock himself. In addition to his personal holding, the most important stockholders are as follows:
Firmin V. Desloge, vice president and son of the president who resides at Clayton and Gay roads, St. Louis County. Joseph Desloge, another son, president of the Killark Electrical Manufacturing Co., also of St. Louis County. Eugene A. Fusz, 6925 Delmar boulevard, St. Louis. Firmin D. Fusz, 44 Orchard avenue, Webster Groves. Mrs. Genevieve F. Moore, Kansas City. Mrs. Charles J. O'Malley, Boston. Vincent P. Ring, 34 Arundel place, St. Louis. Paul F. Ring, Center drive, Hampton Park. Mrs. Grace Tansey Ewing. John F. Valle, secretary of the Desloge Co., 10 North Kingshighway, St. Louis. Mrs. Cobb, 4444 Westminster place, St. Louis. Mrs. Marie Reine DePenaloza, No. 1 Allen place, Ferguson. Mrs. George H. Backer, 3758 Westminster place, St. Louis. Mrs. Theresa Kulage, College avenue, St. Louis.
Firmin Desloge, Sr., is said to be one of the largest stockholders in the St. Joseph Lead Company also, his holdings dating back many years in the history of that company. The Desloge company has been considered a family affair, in a large sense, as the stock has remained in the hands of the original founders principally, and operation of the company had been directed by the senior Desloge since it was organized. Reports have been current that the property would be sold on many different occasions, and, without doubt, previous deals for such a sale have been considered at various times. However, such transactions have always been blocked by Desloge, Sr., who could never quite make up his mind to part with the company which he had such a large personal part in developing.
The deal bears out previous statements by President Crane of the St. Joseph Company, that his company planned to enlarge their operations in a major way following sale of their railroad holdings and the Rivermines power plant, which was recently announced. This is the second large consolidation which the St. Joseph company has completed in this district, the first being with the Federal Lead Company about five years ago, and the total amount involved in both transactions runs to approximately twenty one million dollars.
The information on this site is provided free for the purpose of researching your genealogy. This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, for your own research. The information contained in this site may not be copied to any other site without written "snail-mail" permission. If you wish to have a copy of a donor's material, you must have their permission. All information found on these pages is under copyright of Oklahoma Cemeteries. This is to protect any and all information donated. The original submitter or source of the information will retain their copyright. Unless otherwise stated, any donated material is given to MOGenWeb to make it available online.