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"was doing due diligence and * * * was not an investor."
Petitioner testified that he did not find this refusal odd. Yet
petitioner was visiting PI as a potential investor; Roberts
arranged for his visit because petitioner "would never invest in
anything unless [he] saw it." Moreover, petitioner had signed a
secrecy agreement, and the offering memorandum disclosed that PI
did not intend to seek patent protection. Petitioner knew from
experience that "it's difficult to make money in plastics
recycling," even for a preeminent corporation such as Celanese.
The business risk factors listed in the offering memorandum, PI's
high costs, petitioner's knowledge of the basic difficulty in
making money in plastics recycling, and the uncooperative
attitude of the PI personnel in simply refusing to furnish any
information concerning corporate finance or actual operating
costs should have raised serious questions in petitioner's mind
about the financial and economic viability of Northeast.
2. Petitioner Failed To Show That the Sentinel EPE Recycler
was Unique
Petitioner claims that he concluded that the Sentinel EPE
recycler was unique because it could recycle 1-to-2 pound density
polyethylene. He testified:
At that time--this is August of 1981--I was not
aware, and neither were any of the people I talked to
aware of any machines that [recycled] low density
[polyethylene] down in the 1 and 2 pound range.
* * * * * * *
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