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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 activity
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