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We are also unpersuaded that decedent was anticipating a
decline in value. There is no credible evidence suggesting that
CamVic's value was declining at the time the original Buy-Sell
Agreement was executed in 1975 or in 1981. Indeed, valuations of
CamVic stock made between 1969 and 1974 indicate that CamVic's value
was actually increasing during this time. On a gift tax return
filed January 8, 1969, decedent reported the value of 9 shares of
CamVic stock that he had gifted to Ronald at $7,091.07 per share.
When CamVic later merged on June 21, 1971, with two other
corporations owned by the Bommer family, the value of CamVic's stock
for purposes of computing the exchange ratio for the merger was
$14,192.45 per share. In addition, between 1972 and 1974, decedent
made several gifts of CamVic stock to Ronald and his grandchildren.
Each gift was valued for gift tax purposes at $15,105.74 per share.22
Second, an inference of testamentary device can be drawn from
the manner in which the parties selected the $11,333.30 price per
share for the purchase of CamVic stock. Decedent was an experienced
businessman, yet he failed to obtain a professional appraisal of
CamVic, its subsidiaries, or its real properties. Instead, decedent
did nothing more than consult with his attorney Mr. Hughes.
Decedent and Ronald had one meeting with Mr. Hughes, who completed
his computation, upon which the above price per share was based, in
22With respect to the period from 1975 until approximately
April 1981, when the Revised Agreement was executed, CamVic's
increasing value is not disputed by petitioners or their expert
witness.
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