Bunge Corp. v. St. Louis Terminal Field Warehouse Co.

295 F. Supp. 1231, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12581
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 10, 1969
DocketNo. GC 6516
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 295 F. Supp. 1231 (Bunge Corp. v. St. Louis Terminal Field Warehouse Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bunge Corp. v. St. Louis Terminal Field Warehouse Co., 295 F. Supp. 1231, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12581 (N.D. Miss. 1969).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

ORMA R. SMITH, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Bunge Corporation (hereinafter referred to as “Bunge”), is a New York corporation. Defendant, St. Louis Terminal Field Warehouse Company (hereinafter referred to as “St. Louis”), is a Missouri corporation qualified to do and doing business in Mississippi. This is a civil action between citizens of dif[1234]*1234ferent states and the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000), exclusive of interest and costs; hence, this Court has jurisdiction of the action.1

STANDING OF PLAINTIFF TO BRING SUIT

At the threshold the Court is faced with the question of the standing of Bunge to bring this action. At the time of the transaction involved herein, Bunge had not qualified to do business in Mississippi as required by statute.2 This section requires a foreign corporation to secure a certificate of authority from the Secretary of State before engaging in business in the state.

Section 5309-239, Code of 1942, Recompiled, provides “No foreign corporation transacting business in this state without a certificate of authority shall be permitted to maintain any action, suit or proceeding in any court of this state.” This prohibition applies to an action in a federal court in the state. Woods v. Interstate Realty Co., 337 U.S. 535, 69 S.Ct. 1235, 93 L.Ed. 1524.

St. Louis does not contend that the-transaction involved in this action was such as to constitute doing business in the state. The transaction, in all its aspects, was an interstate transaction and therefore exempt by law from the provisions' of the statute. It is the position of St. Louis that Bunge was doing business through a wholly owned subsidiary, a Mississippi corporation known as Greenville Elevator Corporation, later known as River Grain Corp. (hereinafter referred to as “River Grain”).

The transaction upon which the action is founded occurred in 1963. Bunge merged with River Grain in 1964 and obtained a certificate of authority at that time. This action was filed in 1965. Bunge contends that it had a right to institute the action since at the time it was filed Bunge was authorized to do business in Mississippi, and thus the prohibition, if any existed, was removed. This question has been decided adversely to Bunge’s position by the Mississippi Supreme Court. In the ease of Parker v. Lin-Co. Producing Company, 1967, 197 So.2d 228, 230, the Court said:

“We hold that a foreign corporation doing business in Mississippi without having qualified as required by statute cannot use the courts of this state to enforce any cause of action that accrued as a result of doing such business. In order to avail itself of the state courts to enforce a cause of action, a foreign corporation doing business in this state must have qualified to do business when the cause of action accrued.”

The issue, therefore, before the Court is whether Bunge was doing business in Mississippi at the time through River Grain, acting as its agent. To resolve this issue the Court must examine the record for pertinent facts.

The record discloses that Bunge is a wholly owned subsidiary of Los Andes, N. V., a foreign corporation of the Netherlands Antilles. The officers and directors of Bunge are not shareholders of Los Andes, N. V.

River Grain was incorporated in 1957. Its stock was held until November 30, 1961, fifty-one per cent by Bunge and forty-nine per cent by H. A. M. Corporation. On November 30, 1961 Bunge acquired the stock held by H. A. M. Corporation, thereby becoming the only stockholder of River Grain. This situation existed at the time the transaction involved in this action took place and until March, 1964, when River Grain merged into Bunge.

During the period in which H. A. M. Corporation held stock in River Grain, Bunge furnished three members and H. A. M. Corporation furnished two members of River Grain’s board of directors. River Grain had five directors on its board. The directors furnished [1235]*1235by Bunge, officials of Bunge, served as' officers of River Grain. The two directors furnished by H. A. M. Corporation continued as directors of River Grain after Bunge acquired the stock of H. A. M. Corporation, until the latter part of March, 1963 and were on the board at the time the transaction involved in this action took place. During the critical period involved herein the officials of Bunge who were members of' the River Grain’s board, as executive officers of River Grain, were in charge of the affairs of River Grain.

River Grain, prior to being merged into Bunge, was a separate and distinct corporate entity. While Bunge could direct River Grain’s operation because of stock ownership, River Grain had a board of directors of its own, officers who managed its affairs, and kept and maintained separate corporate records. Local managers of River Grain made operating decisions commonly exercised in connection with the facility intrusted to their care, such as pricing, hiring, personnel, etc. The individuals serving as elected officers of River Grain were also elected officials of Bunge. In their capacity as officials of River Grain they made decisions with respect to certain aspects of the operation of River Grain, i. e. financing and other corporate actions which were not a part of ordinary operations. River Grain purchased and sold grain for its own account to customers other than Bunge.

The Court finds from the evidence that River Grain was a corporate entity separate and apart from Bunge; that during the period in question its association with Bunge did not act to create the relationship of principal and agent between them; and that Bunge was not engaged in doing business in Mississippi through the activities of River Grain. The Court holds that Bunge is not prohibited from bringing this action. The authorities fully sup-port this position. 36 Am.Jur.2d, Foreign Corporations, § 347, pages 350 et seq.; Annotations, 18 A.L.R.2d,' page 187; A.L.R.2d, Later Case Service, Vol. 2, supplementing 13-18 A.L.R.2d, page 1109.

The rule as stated in 36 Am.Jur. is as follows:

“The authorities in general support the proposition that a doing of business in the state by a corporation which is a subsidiary of, or is affiliated with, a foreign corporation and subject to domination and control by the latter, does not constitute a doing of business in the state by such foreign corporation if corporate separation between the two is maintained and if, with respect to the business done, the former does not stand in the relation of agent to the latter.” 36 Am.Jur.2d, page 350.
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“As a rule, the mere ownership by a foreign corporation of all, or a controlling interest in, the stock of a subsidiary corporation doing business in the state does not warrant the conclusions that the business done by the latter is that of the former, and that the foreign corporation is itself doing business in the state either as, or through the agency of, the subsidiary corporation. At least so long as the subsidiary retains its own officers, has property of its own, and is responsible for its contracts and to persons with whom it deals, its corporate entity will not be disregarded in such a case.” 36 Am.Jur.2d, pages 351-352.

THE CASE ON ITS MERITS

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
295 F. Supp. 1231, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12581, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bunge-corp-v-st-louis-terminal-field-warehouse-co-msnd-1969.