SCM Stock Climbs Further Above Hanson’s Bid Price

SCM Corp. stock continued a rally Thursday, climbing further above a $60-a-share takeover bid by Hanson Trust PLC amid speculation that a better offer would emerge.

Hanson, a diversified British company, announced its $720-million cash offer for SCM on Wednesday, and SCM said Thursday that it was studying the bid.

In response to the offer, SCM stock shot up $8 on Wednesday to close at $63 a share. On Thursday, SCM rose another $1.125 a share to $64.125 in heavy trading.

Ernest Kiehne, a senior vice president at the Baltimore investment firm of Legg Mason Wood Walker, said the performance of SCM stock was a clear sign that “the company is worth more than the offered price.”

He predicted that SCM, which had earnings of $4.20 a share on revenue of $2.2 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, would grow to earnings of $10 a share on sales of more than $3 billion within several years.

SCM is based in New York and manufactures products that include Smith-Corona typewriters, Glidden paints and Durkee foods and spices. It also has interests in paper products and chemicals.

In the first response to the offer, SCM Chairman Paul H. Elicker said the company was reviewing the offer with its financial adviser, Goldman, Sachs & Co., and its legal adviser, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

“Our board will evaluate the Hanson offer to determine if it is in the best interests of our shareholders as well as responsive to the needs of our employees, customers and the communities we serve,” Elicker said.

In the United States, Hanson owns Endicott Johnson Corp., a shoe company; Hygrade Food Products Corp., a maker of hot dogs and meat products; Ames Co., a producer of garden tools, and U.S. Industries Inc., a lighting fixtures business.

It has annual sales of more than $1.5 billion in the United States.