Tide Water Associated Oil Company
In 1926, control of Tide Water Oil was sold to a new holding company, Tide Water Associated Oil Company, which also acquired a controlling interest in California's Associated Oil Company. Soon thereafter, Standard Oil Company of New Jersey took control of the company. Flying A became the primary brand name for the company, though the Tydol and Associated names were also retained in their respective marketing areas.
The Tide Water Associated Oil Company (incorporated in Delaware on March 6, 1926) offered for each share of Associated Oil stock (of which 2,290,412 shares were outstanding) 1 share of no-par common and 1/3 share of 6% par $100 cumulative preferred. An alternative offer by a syndicate formed by Blair & Co. and Chase Securities Corp. offered $58.50 per share of Associated Oil Company. For each share of no-par stock of Tide Water Oil, 1 1/3 share of TWAO was offered. The preferred stock of Tide Water Oil remained unchanged. The Blair/Chase syndicate concurrently offered a block of the 6% convertible preferred of TWAO ("the new $240,000,000 dollar company") to the public.[103] The Justice Department concluded an anti-trust investigation on April 22, 1926, declaring the consolidation legal.[104]
On May 31, 1930, Tide Water Oil sold the subsidiary Tide Water Oil Export Corp to the Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company, a subsidiary of Standard Oil Company of Indiana.[101]
Getty representative H. Paul Grimm (president of Pacific Western Oil Corporation) was elected director on May 3, 1934, succeeding Henry S. Sturgis.[110]
After a board resolution on Sep 17, 1936, TWAO bought the stock of the Terrabella Investment Co (California) for 230,000 new TWAO shares, which brought the total common stock registered with the NYSE to 8,751,985 shares.[111]
In August 1936 TWO (New Jersey) spun off all operations into the new wholly owned subsidiary TWO (Delaware)[112] and on November 30, 1936, Tide Water Oil and Associated Oil were merged into the Tide Water Associated Oil Company,[113] which then held 99.13% of TWO and 98.21% of AO stock. The no-par common stock was exchanged for $10 par common to reduce tax payments. Each residual TWO share not already in the TWAO treasury received 3 shares of TWAO stock; each AO share received 2 1/4, causing the issue of 149,698 new TWAO shares.[114] The merger was likely among the many executed in response to the Revenue Act of 1936.
Tidewater Oil Company operated a fleet of oil tankers. During World War II, it chartered ships to the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration and operated T2 tankers to support the war effort.[115] Ships included: USS Guyandot (AOG-16), SS Byron D. Benson, SS Samuel Q. Brown, Falls of Clyde, and others.
During the 1950s, the Associated and Tydol brands gradually fell into disuse, and were dropped entirely in 1956.
Mission Corp
Mission Corp was incorporated at the end of 1934 as a holding company as a means of Standard Oil of New Jersey to distribute its holding of TWAO stock. It had an authorized capital of 1,500,000 shares of which 1,050,000 were initially issued and on March 15, 1935 a stock dividend of 1/25 shares of Mission Corp was paid per share to holders of par $25 Jersey common stock. Mission Corp owned only a small amount of working cash and 1,128,123 shares of TWAO common stock. Directors were: Edward Shea, Robert McKelvy (both of TWAO) and Herbert Rawl, Lyman Rhoades and John P. Davis.[116]
