Expert: Steven Taylor - 5/3/2009

Question
In going through my recently deceased father's papers, I came across a 1953 certificate for a small number of shares in Dempsey Oils Limited, registered with the Montreal Trust Company.  Do you know what happened to this company and if the stock certificate has any value?

Answer
Barry, I don't have much information available on the company. It appears they were acquired by General Petroleum & Drilling on the basis of 1 Class B preferred share per common share of Dempsey. General was later acquired by Westburne Petroleum & Minerals on a share-for-share swap. I don't know what happened to Westburne.

You could try the Transfer Agent and see if they have any information. The transfer portion of Montreal Trust is now Computershare, which you can contact through www.computershare.com. You could also try the Province of Incorporation and see what information they have available. Or, you could contact a broker and ask them to perform a more detailed search for you.