April 30, 1925 – Dodge Brothers sold to investment bank in record setting transaction

An interesting transaction took place on this day in 1925 when Dodge Brothers, Inc was sold to Dillon, Read & Company, a prominent American investment bank from the 1920s into the 1960s. It wasn’t so much the actual sale that stirred interest, but the terms of the deal. The car company was sold for $146 million plus an additional $50 million that was to be given to various charities. The $146 million alone was the largest deal to date for any automaker. Dillon, Read & Company was an investment powerhouse in the 1920s and was well known for other transactions outside the purchase and subsequent sale of Dodge to Chrysler in 1928. Other interesting transactions included rescuing the failing Goodyear Tire, leading the largest-ever stock offering and offering the first post WWI closed end investment trust.
Dodge was originally founded in 1900 by brothers Horace and John. Following their unrelated and untimely deaths in 1920 the company began see a slip in sales. The widows of the brothers had control of the company and made the decision to sell. The investment firm purchased the company and eventually turned around and sold it to Chrysler, where Dodge remains today as a subsidiary.