NORTH BRUNNER COAL COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3016, 3 January 1912, Page 34

NORTH BRUNNER COAL COMPANY.

SCHEME OF RECONSTRUCTION. (From Ocb Own Corrkspondrnt.) LONDON, November 18. The shareholders of the North Brunner Coal Company have agreed to the directors’ scheme of reconstruction. Mr R. Tristram Harper presided over the special general meeting held at 54 Next Bioad street on Tuesday. The Chairman said that in framing the reconstruction scheme the sole object of the directors had been to consider the equitable rights of the various classes of the members of the company. Ihey wished to arrange a scheme which would place the company on a sound basis in order to assure its future success. Meetings of the debenture and preference shareholders had already been held, and at each of these meetings resolutions assenting to the conditional reconstruction agreement had been passed. The debenture holders had agreed to step down and take preference shares in the new company, subject to the conditions of the agreement being fulfilled, while the preference shareholders had agreed to ratify and confirm the conditional agreement. The company found it absolutely necessary that further capital should be provided, and they proposed that the new company should create £MO,OOO of profitsharing debentures, whicn would he a first mortgage on the existing company’s property and on the property to be acquired by the new company, and a floating charge on all the assets, and, in addition, would be entitled to one-half profits after the new preference shares had received 8 per cent, per annum. The reconstruction would not go through unless certain conditions were complied with, and one of those conditions was that the new company should obtain sufficient subscriptions for the profit-sharing debentures to ensure success.

The resolutions were seconded by Mr Leigh-Hunt. Mr Mason said they were bound to ae ccpt the proposals laid down in view of the attitude of the holders of the mortgagee. He would like to know how many of the original shares were still in the hands of the original shareholders. Mr A. P. Harper said he had not sold any shares, and Mr Thornton assured the meeting that he still held the groat, majority of his shares.

M.r Mason .inquired, regarding the sale of the Tyneside proprietary, whether any of the vendors of the North Brunner were making intermediafo profits. The chairman replied that nobody was making any intermediate profits, and that the agree ment was direct from the owners of the Tyneside proprietary. Replying to a shareholder,. Mr A. P. Harper stated that their estimate for reaching hard coal had proved correct. From the hard coal they were at present going into they ougnt to increase their output during the next 12 months to 2000 tons per week. At the same time they would be making £2OOO a year from the coke ovens. The life of the Tyneside property was about four years, Mr Macleod made the suggestion that a request should be put forward that the option to acquire the assets of the Tyneside proprietary should be extended' for a further three months, but the chairman observed that he did not think there was the smallest chance of such a request being granted.