State ex rel. General Grain, Inc. v. Boone Circuit Court

196 N.E.2d 77, 245 Ind. 34, 1964 Ind. LEXIS 182
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 11, 1964
DocketNo. 30,291
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 196 N.E.2d 77 (State ex rel. General Grain, Inc. v. Boone Circuit Court) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. General Grain, Inc. v. Boone Circuit Court, 196 N.E.2d 77, 245 Ind. 34, 1964 Ind. LEXIS 182 (Ind. 1964).

Opinion

Jackson, J.

— This is an original action seeking a Writ of Prohibition commanding and directing the respondents to refrain, until the further order of this Court,' from proceeding further or exercising jurisdiction in connection with the order of respondent court dated July 18, 1962, requiring the relator to deposit the sum of $331,230.88 with the clerk of the respondent court in the cause of John H. Beals et al. v. General Grain, Inc., being cause No. 22022 on the records of said court. We issued the temporary writ.

The following is a summary of the factual situation preceding the institution of this original action as appears from relator’s petition.

[36]*36On July 9, 1958, the shareholders of Acme-Goodrich, Inc., at a meeting called for that purpose, adopted an agreement of merger whereby Acme-Goodrich, Inc., The Cleveland Grain Company, Inc., and Associated Terminal Elevators of Indiana, Inc., were to be merged into the relator General Grain, Inc., pursuant to the provisions of The Indiana General Corporation Act, under which all of said corporations were incorporated.

Within thirty (30) days after the adoption of the merger agreement by the shareholders of Acme-Goodrich, Inc., 104 preferred shareholders of Acme-Goodrich, Inc., filed with said corporation their written objections to the merger and demands for the payment of the value of their shares pursuant to the provisions of Section 37 of the Indiana General Corporation Act. None of said 104 shareholders had voted his shares in favor of the merger at the meeting on July 9,1958.

The agreement of merger was approved and adopted by the other parties thereto. Thereafter, on August 12, 1958, Articles of Merger of Acme-Goodrich, Inc., The Cleveland Grain Company, Inc., and Associated Terminal Elevators of Indiana, Inc., into the relator General Grain, Inc., were filed with and approved by the Secretary of State of Indiana, thereby affecting the merger of the said corporations pursuant to their agreement.

The 104 dissenting shareholders of Acme-Goodrich, Inc., and the relator did not within thirty (30) days after August 12, 1958, the effective date of the merger, agree on the value of the dissenting stockholders’ shares. Thereafter, on November 10, 1958, being the 90th day after the effective date of the merger, the 104 dissenting preferred shareholders each filed a separate action in the Superior Court of Marion County for the [37]*37value of their shares. All of these actions were consolidated under cause No. C-38097, being the action entitled “John H. Beals, Plaintiff v. General Grain, Inc., and Acme-Goodrich, Inc., Defendants” in Room No. 2 of said court. All of the complaints were identical except for allegations as to the number of shares owned.

The complaints filed by the dissenting shareholders were in two paragraphs, the first of which was later dismissed, and is therefore, not in issue or considered. The second paragraph of complaint sought to have the court appraise the value of their stock pursuant to the provisions of Section 37 of The Indiana General Corporation Act. On December 23, 1959, the court appointed three appraisers to appraise the value of the plaintiffs’ share of preferred stock in Acme-Goodrich, Inc.

On April 8, 1960, the appraisers fixed the value of the shares as of August 12, 1958, as follows: The 5% Series A preferred stock of Acme-Goodrich, Inc., of the par value of $100.00 per share was appraised as being of the value of $66.25 per share; the 4% Series B preferred stock of Acme-Goodrich, Inc., of the par value of $24.00 per share was appraised as being of the value of $13.00 per share.

Within ten days after the filing of the appraisal report, on April 12, 1960, plaintiffs filed written exceptions to the report of the appraisers. On April 18, 1960, relator General Grain, Inc., also within the ten days of the filing of the report of the appraisers, filed its written exceptions to the report.

Thereafter, on April 22, 1960, relator filed a motion for change of venue from the county, the motion being sustained, said cause was venued to respondent Boone Circuit Court where it was docketed as cause No. 22022. [38]*38On February 16, 1961, relator General Grain, Inc., filed a motion for a change of venue from the judge, motion was granted, and on March 6, 1961, the respondent Richard J. Groover was appointed as Special Judge, qualifying and assuming jurisdiction in the cause on March 10,1961.

On April 2, 1962, plaintiffs below, John H. Beals et al., filed their petition in respondent court for an order directing the immediate payment by the relator General Grain, Inc., to the clerk of respondent court of the sum of $331,230.88, that sum being the principal amount, without interest, of the value of plaintiffs’ stock in Acme-Goodrich, Inc., as fixed by the appraisers. The cause having theretofore been set for trial by jury on the issues raised by the exceptions to the appraisers’ report, the petition was taken under advisement by respondent court.

Thereafter, the cause was tried by jury and on July 6, 1962, the jury rendered its verdict finding that the value of 5% Series A preferred stock of Acme-Goodrich, Inc., on August 12, 1958, was $85.00 per share, that the value of the 4% Series B preferred stock of Acme-Goodrich, Inc., on August 12, 1958, was $20.40 per share, and each of the plaintiffs listed in the verdict was entitled to recover from General Grain, Inc., a sum equal to the value of the Series A preferred stock of Acme-Goodrich, Inc., times the number of shares of such stock set opposite his name plus the value of the Series B preferred stock of Acme-Goodrich, Inc., times the number of shares of such stock set opposite his name plus interest thereon at the rate of 6% per annum from August 12, 1958. On July 18, 1962, the respondent court entered judgment on the verdict in favor of the 104 plaintiffs against the relator General Grain, Inc., in the aggregate sum of $585,180.19. On [39]*39the rendition of the judgment as aforesaid, and on the same day, relator filed a motion for a stay of execution on the judgment for a period of sixty days on the ground that under Section 37 of The Indiana General Corporation Act, the obligation of the relator to pay such judgment does not mature until the expiration of such sixty day period. The motion was granted by the court.

At the time of the entry of the judgment of July 18, 1962, the respondent court entered an order granting the plaintiffs’ petition of April 2, 1962, to require the deposit in the clerk’s office of the respondent court the value of plaintiffs’ stock as assessed by the appraisers on April 8, 1960, and ordered relator to deposit the sum of $331,230.88 with such clerk within twenty days. On the same day, July 18, 1962, relator filed its written motion to vacate said order on the ground that the respondent court had no statutory or inherent authority to enter such order and is without jurisdiction to enforce the same, which motion was denied by the court.

The rights of the parties are to be determined by the provisions of Acts 1929, ch. 215, §37, p. 725, being §25-236, Burns’ 1960 Replacement which reads as follows:

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239 N.E.2d 403 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1968)
State Ex Rel. Winkler v. SUP. CT. OF MARION CTY.
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State ex rel. General Grain, Inc. v. Goodrich
204 N.E.2d 527 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1965)

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Bluebook (online)
196 N.E.2d 77, 245 Ind. 34, 1964 Ind. LEXIS 182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-general-grain-inc-v-boone-circuit-court-ind-1964.