THE BREWERY COMBINE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18786, 21 May 1923, Page 11

THE BREWERY COMBINE

A DOMINION-WIDE SCHEME. [Per Press Association.] CHRISTCHURCH, May 18. As the outcome of a conference held recently in Wellington, a proposal lias been put forward for the amalgamation of all brewery interests in the Dominion into one large public concern. Shareholders in the present brewery companies are to be asked to approve of the proposal, and special meetings will be called for the purp«e. The owners of small breweries, of which there is a large number in the Dominion, are io be invited to join the amalgamation. All existing concerns will come in c-n a valuation basis, anil a new corporate finely. This capitalisation will run into pver a million of money, and it is proposed to give the public generally an opportunity of sharing in the control and fortunes of the new organisation. The- “inwardness of the scheme’’ is really to convert the brewery trade in New Zealand into a publicly-ownM service with methods of control and regulation to suit the sentiments of the people. One direct result of amalgamation will be the abolition of the “tiedliouse” system, for all supplies will come from the one central source. The element of goodwill in tied and other houses retailing brewery products will also, it is claimed, disappear. Details of the financial proposals have not yet been completed, and nothing can be obtained from the representatives of local brewery interests. The scheme is still only in the embryonic stage, and until the shareholders of companies and the owners of the smaller breweries have formally accepted the main principles, little more can be done" The owners of present brewery concerns. public and private, will, it is •stated, be paid in cash for their interests or in shares in the new amalgamation, or partly in one way and partly in the other. Shares and debentures in the new capitalisation will be issued to the public. In view of the proposed amalgamation, brewery .shares have shown a (substantial rise 'luring the past week or two.