Len Rutledge

"Foster tapped str Canada, the local arm of Bankers Trust in New York, as a funding source, and on behalf of Sealand he began negotiations with Len Rutledge to purchase Toronto Helicopters. According to Foster, the negotiations grew complicated because of Rutledge’s apparently endless demands. “We would reach an agreement and get ready to sign off,” Foster says, “and Len would say, ‘Oh, there’s one more thing, and we'd have to deal with that.” Rutledge kept raising issues each time Foster believed they had a deal until, within a day or two of the final deadline, he said again to Foster, “Oh, there’s just one more thing.” “Len,” Foster replied, “I’ll do this ‘one more thing, but if there’s anything else I’m going to advise Craig Dobbin to just walk away and forget everything.” The “one more thing” this time turned out to be the purchase of Rutledge’s Mercedes-Benz. Foster agreed, and negotiations were completed. Sealand was about to purchase its larger rival, leaving Sealand with a sweat-generating 27:1 debt-toequity ratio."

"After spending time and effort on the ou1P pitch, Jones was dispirited when he broke news of the province’s rejection to Craig Dobbin, expecting the Sealand owner to abandon the idea. Dobbin, however, had a different response. “The hell with the contract,” he grinned. “Let’s buy the buggers out and we'll get the contract that way! We'll start with Toronto.” Buy them? Jones thought. What a crazy idea. Toronto Helicopters was comparable to Sealand in size, providing craft and pilots for a wide range of services beyond the ouIP contract. It was also a very profitable company. What’s more, John Lecky had been attempting to purchase Toronto from company president Len Rutledge for some time; each effort was turned down flat. Why should Rutledge look with favour on Sealand’s offer? One of Craig Dobbin’s most popular aphorisms was “Never take no for an answer,” and he instructed Jones to contact Rutledge, set up a meeting and arrange a deal. To Jones’s surprise, Rutledge’s response to his request for a meeting was, “Sure, let’s talk.”"

"It took the combined efforts of Robert Foster and Harry Steele to persuade Lecky even to meet with Dobbin. He agreed with some reluctance, insisting that he and Debbin reside in separate Calgary hotels during negotiations. “I want to buy your company,” Dobbin said when he and Lecky finally got together. As direct-as that. Lecky grinned as though Dobbin had just told him a mildly amusing story. “The way I hear it,” he replied, “you can’t write a cheque for more than a dollar without having it bounce.” Dobbin replied he was serious and asked Lecky to name a price. “Twenty-five million dollars cash,” Lecky said. Then, taking a page out of Len Rutledge’s playbook, he added: “Before we get started, I want a non-refundable deposit of one million dollars paid personally to me, and there is a sixty-day deadline for completing the deal. How does that sound?” If Lecky expected Dobbin to turn pale at the terms, he was disappointed. Assuring Lecky he would hear from him within a few days, Dobbin returned home to liquidate as many of his assets as it took to accumulate the million dollars. Whatever asset he owned that wasn’t mortgaged to the hilt and could find an eager buyer was put on the block. Craig Dobbin was pushing every poker chip he had into the centre of the table. A week after meeting Lecky, Dobbin dispatched a certified cheque for one million dollars to the Okanagan owner. “Let’s get it done,” Dobbin said in a follow-up phone call."

"Nothing Jones offered could sway the lawyer from his position. Finally, the New York man offered to provide the money at an interest rate two full percentage points above the agreed-upon level. In a take-it-or-leave-it offer, Bankers Trust was employing a strategy designed to improve its own profits by hiding details of its agreement during preliminary discussions, cornering Sealand until it could not afford to kill the deal. The hardball-playing New York lawyer, Jones suspected, had ridden into town determined to fleece the trusting, slow-moving Canadians.” Jones turned to the Canadian vice-presidents of Bankers Trust, reminding them that they had given their word on the terms of the deal and had represented the bank’s position during weeks of discussion. Sealand had invested an enormous amount of time and money to this stage, based on BT’s assurances. “You can’t change the rules on the one-yard line,” he insisted. The vice-presidents remained silent. “They wouldn’t even look at me,” Jones says. “Meanwhile, Len Rutledge is at the other end of the table grinning from ear to ear,"