- 18 - purpose for BEI. Kaufman Lumber was profitable when BEI acquired a 50-percent interest in December 1986. Neither BEI nor petitioner made an effort to resell Kaufman Lumber at a profit. Instead, BEI acquired the remaining 50 percent of the company in 1989 and continued to hold it at the time of petitioners' divorce in 1991. Petitioner argues that he has a history of rehabilitating and selling businesses for a period of nearly 30 years. There is some evidence in the record that petitioner had a reputation in his community as a business entrepreneur. Petitioner had interests in about 20 businesses in addition to the BEI subsidiaries. Petitioner contends that he also held these entities as part of his business of promoting and developing businesses. However, there is no credible evidence that the other business enterprises were held as inventory for resale. We cannot determine from the record the length of time that petitioner held the businesses, and it appears that petitioner held them for considerable periods of time without any intention of selling them. Only a few of these businesses were marginally profitable, and petitioner did not take any affirmative steps to advertise or sell them. Evidence offered by petitioner at trial shows that he successfully turned around and sold only three companies (Southern Blueprint, Nygem, Consumat) over a period of 30 years. Petitioner's accountant was not aware of a single instance where petitioner successfully rehabilitated a struggling company apart from ENSCO. Petitioner's prior business activityPage: Previous 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011