Hughes Upsets the Market

For the stockholders of his RKO Pictures Corp., Croesus-rich Howard Hughes this week had a mouth-watering surprise. Hughes, who has been trying to sell out his interest, this time offered to buy all the company's assets for $23,489,478. The cash would be used to pay stockholders $6 a share for the stock, which closed last week at 2 7/8. His conditions: directors must approve the offer by Feb. 15, and a majority of stockholders other than himself must approve by March 30. Explained he: "I have been sued by certain . . . stockholders and accused of responsibility for losses . . . I would like to feel that I have given all the stockholders . . . an opportunity to receive . . . an amount well in excess of its market value . . . when I first became connected with the company, or at any time since."

The offer brought complete confusion into RKO trading on the New York Stock Exchange as the market opened this week. Some 15,000 buying orders, ranging from a few hundred to several thousand shares each, piled up before the opening, many of them "at the market." The first sale was held up for almost 2 1/2 hours while orders were sorted out. Finally, a block of 200,000 shares was traded. The price: 5 5/8.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.