Word: odlum
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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Slim, soft-spoken Floyd Bostwick Odlum, who built Atlas Corp. from a $40,000 experiment in 1923 to a $121,336,779 investment trust ten years later, has one very special gift: an uncanny ability to sense ''special situations." Last week Floyd Odlum released Atlas' 1940 report, and with it a bagful of cats. His newest "special situation" was revealed to be Hearst Consolidated Publications, Inc., 7% cumulative Class A stock. First reaction of many a Wall Streeter: "What does Odlum see in that?" Second reaction: look...
...whom this low seemed inviting was Floyd B. Odlum. In 1935 he had his investment trust, Atlas Corp., put around $4,000,000 into U. P. & L. debentures, the next year sold the English assets over Clarke's opposition, won for Atlas a sweet paper profit, bought more bonds. In January 1937 U. P. & L. went into the courts under 77B, Clarke's and Hopson's common stock lost control, ended by being wiped out. Odlum, who went on buying, finally held 64% of the bonds outstanding (cost to Atlas: $18,000,000), was in the driver...
...Odlum's liquidation program gave them a chance. Year ago he sold a small U. P. & L. property in Newport, R. I. It was the first time a holding company had ever sold 100% control of an operating company back to the public. But less than $2,000,000 was involved, none of it new money. During the past year, Odlum prepared to repeat the experiment: this time with the bigtime U. P. & L. property in Indianapolis...
Less Than Two Hours. For almost six months, Liquidator Odlum and underwriters (Lehman Bros., Goldman, Sachs and First Boston Corp.) played financial poker with one another over the price at which Indianapolis common could be sold. Indianapolis' 1939 earnings were $2.05 a common share, its dividend $1.60. Upshot of the haggling: the bankers bought 714,835 shares of Indianapolis for $22 a share, agreed to sell it to the public at a $2 markup, for $17,156,040 in all. To Atlas, the sale of U. P. & L.'s Indianapolis stock meant cashing in on around...
Next step will be to put Odlum's blueprint to a vote. On his part Odlum intends to let Atlas preferred stockholders vote on the deal in a separate election instead of with the common as the Delaware law allows, so that they .will have an opportunity to reject it without having their votes outnumbered by those of the common...