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The North American Company was a
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
incorporated in
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
on June 14, 1890, and controlled by Henry Villard, to succeed to the assets and property of the Oregon and Transcontinental Company. It owned
public utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...
and
public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...
companies and was broken up in 1946, largely to comply with the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. Its headquarters were at 60 Broadway in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.


Holdings

In 1889 New Jersey passed legislation to facilitate the control of other companies by another corporation with a goal of encouraging
trusts A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "sett ...
to convert into holding companies and relocate to that state. To take advantage of these expanded corporate powers, in 1890 Oregon and Transcontinental, which was an Oregon corporation, re-incorporated as a holding company in New Jersey and became the North American Company. By 1940, North American was a US$2.3 billion holding company directly and indirectly heading up 80 companies. It controlled ten major direct subsidiaries in eight of which it owned at least 79%. Three of the ten were major holding companies: FindLaw.com * Union Electric Company of St. Louis, Missouri * Washington Railway and Electric Company * North American Light and Power Company Four of the ten direct subsidiaries were operating companies: * Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company *
Pacific Gas and Electric The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 milli ...
* Detroit Edison Company * Wisconsin Electric Power CompanyWisconsin Energy Corporation, History
wisconsinenergy.com
The remaining three of the ten direct subsidiaries were: * North American Utility Securities Corporation * West Kentucky Coal Company *60 Broadway Building Corporation At various times during its existence, North American also owned substantial interests in these other companies as well: * The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company: Formed in 1896 as a subsidiary of the North American Company. By 1929, it operated within North American Company along with Wisconsin Electric Power Company, which became the consolidated name of the two operating companies in 1938. It now belongs to Wisconsin Energy Corporation () * Capital Transit: Formed on December 1, 1933, in Washington, D.C. from merger of Washington Railway, Capital Traction, and Washington Rapid Transit. North American owned it through its holding company subsidiary, Washington Railway and Electric Company, which in turn was the holding company for the merged lines, owning 50% of Capital Transit. * Potomac Electric Power Company * Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company * Union Light, Heat and Power of Covington, Kentucky * Northern Natural Gas Company * Butte Electric and Power Company * Laclede Gas Company *Edison Securities Corporation *Wired Radio, Inc. (
Muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments. The name has been in use since 1934, and has been owned by a division or subsidiary of one or another company ever since. In 1981, Westingh ...
) *North American Edison Company


History

The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 passed with the intent of breaking up interstate electric holding companies by limiting company operations to a single state, thus subjecting them to effective state regulation. The North American Company fought the legislation in court, and the company was not broken up by the
Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
until their loss before the Supreme court in '' North American Co. v. SEC'' on April 1, 1946.


Dow Jones Industrial Average

North American's stock was one of the twelve component stocks of the May 1896 original
Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity inde ...
,What happened to the original 12 companies in the DJIA?, djindixes.com
but it was replaced later that same year. In 1928, when the number of stocks comprising the DJIA was increased to 30, North American was re-added to the list but was replaced again in 1930. The two periods when it was a component were: *May 26, 1896 – August 26, 1896, replaced by U. S. Cordage *October 1, 1928 – January 29, 1930, replaced by Johns-Manville


See also

* John I. Beggs (former director) * Clement Studebaker Jr. (chairman of North American Light and Power Co)


References


External links


''Landis v. North American Co.''
{{Authority control Holding companies of the United States Defunct companies based in New Jersey American companies established in 1890 Financial services companies established in 1890 Financial services companies disestablished in 1946 1890 establishments in New Jersey 1946 disestablishments in New Jersey Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average