Flint Industries, Inc. and Subsidiaries - Page 53




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          it must be remembered that GAI acquired a very different company;           
          on the date of its acquisition by GAI, G�nther had been relieved            
          of all liability for its outstanding bank loans and petitioner’s            
          advances.  While GAI was willing to acquire G�nther, with the               
          hope of restoring it to profitability, a loss is not any less               
          definite and ascertained because, in a later year, someone is               
          willing to take a chance on the losing venture at a nominal                 
          price.  Steadman v. Commissioner, 50 T.C. at 378; Pearsall v.               
          Commissioner, 10 B.T.A. 467, 469 (1928).                                    
               Respondent argues that this is not a case like those cited             
          by petitioner32 in which we found a lack of potential value                 
          despite continued operation or the absence of bankruptcy or                 
          liquidation proceedings because, in those cases, “the companies             
          were defunct as a result of various fundamental factors                     
          precluding all prospect of future worth.”  According to                     
          respondent, no fundamental factor precluded G�nther’s prospects             
          of future worth; G�nther was simply the victim of gross                     
          mismanagement, and the financial consequences of that                       
          mismanagement could be reversed, and were reversed, with time.              
          Respondent contends that the facts of this case are more                    
          analogous to those in Wally Findlay Galleries Intl., Inc. v.                



               32De Loss v. Commissioner, 28 F.2d 803 (2d Cir. 1928), affg.           
          6 B.T.A. 784 (1927); Preston v. Commissioner, 7 B.T.A. 414                  
          (1927); Remington Typewriter Co. v. Commissioner, 4 B.T.A. 880              
          (1926); Emhart Corp. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1998-162.                  




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