Late News and Omnibus World.
Page 49
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The De Dietrich Company has increased its capital from 7,500,000 francs to 15,000,000 francs, and it has under consideration a scheme for the establishment of constructional works at Birmingham and Milan.
Our regular fortnightly, census was taken on Saturday last, instead of Monday, owing to our special publishing arrangements, and the results will be found on this page. It will not be very long before London will have its thousand motorbuses in commission.
Much notice has been taken in the general Press of the Lord Mayor's references to the evils of municipal trading, in the course of his speech at the inaugural luncheon in connection with the present show at Olympia. It will interest many of our readers to know that the Lord Mayor believes that the motor industry will kill municipal enterprise, and will give an enormous fresh impetus to private enterprise.
The Darracq-Serpollet Omnibus Company, Limited, will begin to supply the Soci4t4 d'Initiative with too steam motorbuses per month, beginning in April. This French company, which was formed a short time ago for the purpose of introducing commercial motors throughout the French provinces, has in hand a most ambitious scheme. The plan of campaign is to send experts to any district, in order to spy out the land. The roads are studied, the probable returns and expenses assessed, and the likely difficulties considered. If the outlook is regarded as favourable, local interest is aroused, and the financial question is settled, or, perhaps, we should say mooted, as the district is expected to ml 75 per cent, of the requisite funds before a service is instituted.
A New Issue.
The Maudslay Motor Coinpany (1907), Limited, offers for subscription at par 8o,000 preferred ordinary shares of .4'i each, and an abridgment of the prospectus will be found in this issue (facing page 46). The authorised capital is £roo,000, but 20,000 deferred ordinary shares of .4"t each, the holders of which will take one half the profits after payment of a fixed cumulative dividend on the preferred ordinary shares at the rate of 7i per cent, per annum, are to be allotted to the vendor company, the Maudslay Motor Company, Limited, of Parkside Works, Coventry, and 213-223, Knightsbridge, S.W., in part payment of the purchase price, which is fixed at 4;33,200, and of which 4'13,200 is payable in cash, this being the amount required to pay off the debentures issued by the vendor company in February last. The preferred ordinary shares are to rank, both as to repayment of capital and payment of arrears (if any) on the dividend, in front of the deferred ordinary shares. The undertaking of the Maudslay Motor Company, Limited, will be acquired as a going concern, including that company's pleasurescar, com
mercial-motor, motor-launch, and engine departments, at the price of 4:33,200.
The valuation of Mr. H. W. Bamber, M.I.Mech.E., places the excess of assets over liabilities at .4;22,410, so that £10,790 is set down for good-will, but it looks as though this figure is really some ,C4,000 less by reason of the appreciation in value of the company's premises, which indicates that the amount charged for good-will is substantially less than the actual experimental expenditure and incidental working costs of the vendor company over the establishing of its several types of machines.
The issue, if fully subscribed, will provide a working capital of over '65,000, whilst the minimum subscription on which the directors will proceed to allotment, which is fixed at 4;30,000, will provide a working capital of over ; the new company will take over the business as from i8th February last. The directors, whose nominal qualification is 4250 each, will divide the sum of ,t,000 per annum between them by way of remuneration, and the company will pay a brokerage of 6d, per share on all preferred ordinary shares allotted to the public on application forms bearing brokers' stamps. The Chairman of the company is Mr. Samuel Sanders, Chairman of the Delta Metal Company, Limited, and of Charles Clifford and Company. Limited, the other members being Sir Charles Stewart Forbes, Bart., Mr, Alexander Craig, Mr. Francis Edward Foster, Mr. Cyril Charles Maudslay, and Mr. John Wentworth CulmeSelmour.
Full prospectuses may be had on application to the Secretary of the company, Parkside Works, Coventry, and we believe that the manufacturing programme which is outlined should make the company's shares a satisfactory industrial investment.