From the Richmond Times-Dispatch, 10/20/1915, p. 14, c. 3

OPTION GIVEN ON SALE OF TREDEGAR WORKS
Price of Pending Transaction Said to Be $2,500,000, Including Existing Contracts.
NO STATEMENT IS ISSUED
Anderson Family, Chief Owners, Are Reticent, but Negotiations for Sale to Charles M. Schwab Are Credited in Banking Circles.

Negotiations are said to be in progress for the purchase of the Tredegar Iron Works, one of the oldest plants of its kind in the South, by a syndicate of Northern capitalists, probably connected with the steel interests, who have large contracts for war munitions with the allies. It is understood that an option has been given by the Tredegar Company, the controlling factors in which are Colonel Archer Anderson, Sr., and his sons, Archer Anderson, Jr., and Joseph T. Anderson.

At the Tredegar plant yesterday afternoon, officials refused to confirm or deny the report. It was stated that it is the policy of the company not to discuss its business affairs.

A prominent stockholder of the company is quoted as saying that there was nothing definite to give out about the deal at this time, and that the negotiations have not been consummated. There was no denial that an option on the plant has been given which will expire before November 1.

OPTION IS SAID TO BE FOR APPROXIMATELY $2,500,000

The figures named in the option are said to be approximately $2,500,000, the value of contracts which the company now has with the United States government for the manufacture of shells and other war munitions being taken into consideration. The Tredegar Company has a paid-in capital of $1,000,000, and its stock is understood to have an earning capacity which compares favorably with any industrial issue in the country.

The identity of the members of the syndicate seeking to purchase the Tredegar works has not been revealed. The impression prevails that Charles M. Schwab, the steel magnate, is behind the deal, and he has the financial resources to put it through. Mr. Schwab has been awarded many of the largest ammunition contracts given by the British government in American, and his companies do not control sufficient plants to supply the demand.

The Tredegar Company has never accepted ammunition contracts from foreign governments, but has been delivering shells to the United States in largely increased quantities during the past year.

IN HANDS OF ANDERSON FAMILY FOR SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS

The plant was built by and has been in the hands of the Anderson family for seventy-five years. During the War Between the States it was an arsenal for the Confederate government and for a short time after the conflict closed was held by the Federal authorities under the “confiscation act.” The works have always been conducted along conservative lines and have not branched out to any great extent in recent years.

Adjacent to the plant is sufficient ground for its enlargement, and with new capital in control there is every probability that the Tredegar works will be extended so as to increase its capacity. It is pointed out that the transfer of the plant to any of the big steel companies would mean the addition of large numbers of skilled workmen as well as ordinary laborers to its force.

While it is impossible to secure definite statements from any one directly interested in the Tredegar Company, the reports of negotiations for its sale are accepted generally in financial circles as correct.

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