Turner v. 1518-20 Locust Street Co.

59 Pa. D. & C. 55, 1946 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 98
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedOctober 15, 1946
Docketno. 4715
StatusPublished

This text of 59 Pa. D. & C. 55 (Turner v. 1518-20 Locust Street Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Turner v. 1518-20 Locust Street Co., 59 Pa. D. & C. 55, 1946 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 98 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1946).

Opinion

MacNeille, P. J.,

On May 2, 1946, Kathryn C. Watt entered into a written agreement with defendant corporation and with Homer Reed and J. H. William Stambaugh, trading as Reed & Stambaugh, agents for defendant corporation, for [56]*56the sale by defendant and the purchase by Kathryn C. Watt of premises 1518-20 Locust Street, Philadelphia, for a consideration of $315,000, payable as follows: $10,000 on the signing of the agreement; $21,500 upon notification by defendant of the approval of the agreement by defendant stockholders, and the balance at settlement, which was required to be on or before August 30,1946. In executing the agreement Kathryn C. Watt was acting for plaintiffs and on July 12,1946, by written assignment she formally assigned the agreement of May 2, 1946, to plaintiffs. The performance of the agreement of May 2,1946, was contingent upon certain conditions contained in paragraph 11 of the contract which provided as follows:

“11. This Agreement of Sale has been approved by the Board of Directors of 1518-20 Locust Street Company, and is contingent only upon the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to- vote on the question at a special meeting of the stockholders to be called' for that purpose and held on or before June 15, 1946. The Board of Directors will recommend the sale and the Voting Trustees will vote in favor of the same if,' but only if, prior to such meeting they have received the approval of the holders of voting trust certificates representing at least Fifty-one (51) Percent of the Capital Stock, it being understood that the Directors and Voting Trustees reserve the right to advise all stockholders and voting trust certificate holders of any higher offers which may be received by the Company prior to such meeting of stockholders, in which event any approvals previously received may be withdrawn by the respective voting trust certificate holders. Unless approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote at said special meeting of stockholders, this Agreement shall become null and void. The Seller shall repay all [57]*57monies paid on account by Buyer to Seller, and thereupon there will be no further liability or obligation by either of the parties hereunder.”

It is plaintiffs’ contention that all of the conditions set forth in paragraph 11 of the agreement have either been performed or the nonperformance caused by defendant’s own action and they therefore claim the right to have the agreement carried out by the court ordering the conveyance of the premises to them. Defendant corporation on the other hand denies that the conditions in the agreement have been complied with and contends the agreement is null and void. There is apparently no dispute as to plaintiffs being ready, willing and able to carry out the agreement according to its terms.

On the date of the agreement defendant’s issued stock consisted of 2,435 shares, of which 365 shares were treasury stock. Legal title to the remaining 2,070 shares was held by the voting trustees (the trustees were also the board of directors of defendant corporation) under an agreement with the stockholders which expired on March 1, 1943. However, holders of voting trust certificates representing 1925 shares, exclusive of the treasury stock, had agreed to an extension of the voting trust agreement until March 1,1953. Only 145 shares had not agreed to the extension. The voting trustees under this agreement had authority to sell the property and assets of the corporation upon notification to the holders of the voting trust certificates of the proposed sale, “unless within a period of 30 days from the date thereof the holders of Voting Trust Certificates representing 51% of the capital stock of the Company at such time outstanding shall inform the Voting Trustees in writing that they object thereto. If within said period of thirty days the holders of Voting Trust Certificates representing 51% of the capital stock of the company at such time outstanding shall not have informed the Voting Trustees in writ[58]*58ing of their objections to such sale, the Voting Trustees shall thereupon be vested with power and authority to consummate the same. . .

The directors and voting trustees of defendant corporation examined and approved the agreement of sale before it was executed by defendant corporation and in conformity with the agreement called a special meeting of shareholders of defendant for June 15, 1946, at 10 a.m., to vote for or against approval of the sale. Also pursuant to the agreement the voting trustees addressed to holders of the voting trust certificates letters setting forth the terms of the proposed sale and enclosed forms for replies indicating either approval or disapproval of the sale. The voting trustees, prior to June 15, 1946, received written approval of the proposed sale from holders of voting trust certificates representing 1,410 shares of defendant’s stock. There is no evidence of record that any of the certificate holders withdrew their approval to the said sale prior to the stockholders’ meeting of June 15, 1946. However, on that date the meeting was held and the directors and voting trustees were present but no vote was taken either for or against the approval of the sale. Actually defendant’s stockholders, voting through the voting trustees, adopted a resolution adjourning the meeting until 3 o’clock p.m. Friday, July 19,1946, and further resolving to notify all certificate holders for the first time of a receipt by defendant corporation of a so-called higher offer.

Without deciding at this point whether defendant received a higher offer for the sale of the property prior to the meeting of June 15,1946, the court under the above facts alone believes plaintiffs are entitled to the relief sought. The only contingency to the agreement of sale of May 2,1946, is set forth in paragraph 11 of the contract. This paragraph specifically provided :

[59]*59“The Board of Directors will recommend the sale and the Voting Trustees will vote in favor of the same, if but only if, prior to such meeting they have received the approval of the holders of voting trust certificates representing at least Fifty-one (51) Percent of the Capital Stock.” , .

It is not even disputed by defendant that the voting trustees reeeved the approval of more than 51 percent of the holders of the voting trust certificates. Paragraph 11 further provided:

“. . . it being understood that the Directors. and Voting Trustees reserve the right to advise all stockholders and voting trust certificate holders of any higher offers which may be received by the company prior to such meeting of stockholders, in which event any approvals previously received may be withdrawn by the respective voting trust certificate holders.”

The evidence in this case clearly indicates that'the directors or voting trustees did not advise any of the stockholders or voting trust certificate holders of any higher offers prior to the meeting of June 15, 1946, and of course none of the approvals previously received were withdrawn. This agreement bound the voting trustees to vote approval of the sale on or before June 15, 1946, unless the prior approvals had been withdrawn before that time. Whether this thought be right or wrong there is nothing in the evidence of this case to show that even on June 15, 1946, was any attempt made to obtain any of the withdrawals' of the prior approvals.

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Bluebook (online)
59 Pa. D. & C. 55, 1946 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 98, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/turner-v-1518-20-locust-street-co-pactcomplphilad-1946.