GREAT WOOL AMALGAMATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9153, 7 September 1888, Page 6

GREAT WOOL AMALGAMATION.

GOLDSBROUGH, MORT, AND CO. Ax extraordinary meeting of the shareholders of R. Goldsbrough and Co. (Limited) was held! at their wool warehouses in Melbourne on August 27, when the following resolutions were unanimously agreed to, Mr. J. S. Horsfall in the chair:— 1. That the capital of the company be increased by the creation of 300,000 new shares of £10 each. 2. That such shares shall be issued at such times and at such places within Australasia, the United Kingdom, or elsewhere, and either at par or at a premium and otherwise on such terms and conditions as the directors may deem expedient. 3. That the name of the company be changed to " Goldsbrough, Mort, and Company (Limited)." The Chairman, in referring to these resolutions, said : In connection with this proposed new issue of shares, I have to announce to you that your directors have completed the amalgamation of the business of Mort and Co. (Limited) with that of our own, and that the whole will now be merged into one company bearing the name of Goldsbrough, Mort and Co. (Limited). Part of the amount to be paid to Mort and Co. (Limited) will be in shares of this company, in order to give them a large interest in it, and we have therefore arranged to allot 50,000 shares to them, which has rendered it necessary to increase our capital, and having in view the great future before this business, and the probable necessity to increase its capital from time to time, as our operations extend, we propose to take powers to issue 300,000 shares more, including the 50,000 shares to Mort and Co. (Limited), which when all are issued, would increase our subscribed capital to £6,000,000 sterling. We propose to allot a large proportion of future issues to English shareholders, in order to strengthen our financial position in London. The Business of Mort and Co. (Limited), has been acquired on advantageous terms, and the combination of the two concerns places us far ahead of all c§rapetitors in the Australian wool trade, the total sales of the two companies last season in Melbourne and Sydney being 137,800 bales, out of a total of 374,000 sold in Australia. In addition to this the combined firms shipped about 30,000 bales, thus making a total of nearly 170,000 bales handled by them in one year, being more than one-sixth of the entire annual export of Australia. The name of Mort is a household word throughout New South Wales, and the late Mr. Mort was the Goldsbrough of the Sydney wool trade. The magnificent warehouses owned by Mort and Co. (Limited), at the Circular Quay, Sydney, are unrivalled in the city of Sydney for position and completeness, but as the site is now likely to become far too valuable to be used for storing wool, your directors, in conjunction with Mort & Co. (Limited), have secured at very small cost during the last few days an additional 160 feet of frontage at Darling Harbour, adjoining our warehouses there. We have also 120 feet at Darling Harbour at the back of our warehouses, and we take over from Mort and Co. (Limited), a further frontage of 280 feet, of which 210 feet is freehold, and on which there is a large warehouse occupied by them for grain and station produce. We have thus a total of 560 feet of splendid frontage at Darling Harbour, available for building, and we can consequently double or treble our present warehouse accommodation there, and thus be able to dispense with the warehouse at Circular Quay. This will, we estimate, be a saving of fully £10,000 a year in the working of the two places. For the present season we shall carry on both concerns as at present, it being now too late to make any change for this year. The directors of Mort ana Co. will hold large interests in the concern, and will take an active part in the management ■

conjunction with our present jst*S I . ney. The city properties which ay this amalgamation are ibor rtj-vf and since we arranged the price "Ui a great increase in value has been * through the determination of South ales Government (only ir~. days ago) to carry the railways to ( .*_ Quay. We believe we are justified''ing that the city property r*' the entire amount si which agreed to take the business over. Th» bmation of the Tizmm of t'h s, founders of the Australian wool a-d • sales is happily made in the na~have agreed to adopt—viz., <- Mort, and Co. (Limited), and the their efforts is already evidence^" rapid and colossal growth of -rV .I', transacted in the color the fh _. T' made last season rspresee,-;-£8,000,000 sterling in value. V.'\ v.t' that this trade is only La that before many years are over r.^--'-whole of the wool grown in ' 3; be sold in this colonies. So higr/.v ZT- tr 1 efforts of the late T. S. Mor* a~p- V-' Sydney that a statue has bee:, r 1 his memory in recognition of ~ enterprise and public spirit, TRichard Goldsbrough well i-S-.-J. 1 ""' similar tribute, but these magiiiosJ* houses will probably form h.« it:*; monument.The ftailv Tel*--.'.. - - 29,1885. " ~