Robert Foster

"The appeal to Dobbin may have been more than an opportunity to add to Sealand’s bottom line. It might have been personal. Dobbin’s winning the offshore oil contract from Okanagan a few years earlier had deeply angered one of Okanagan’s larger shareholders, John Lecky. Since that time, Lecky had acquired control of Okanagan, and Craig Dobbin may have enjoyed the chance to challenge him again, the son of a St. John’s lumber dealer matching wits with the Cambridge-educated sophisticate who was heir to the MacMillan Bloedel fortune. Many businesspeople, including Harry Steele and Robert Foster, liked and admired Lecky. Craig Dobbin did not. “John Lecky inherited a billion dollars,” Dobbin once noted, “and it’s become his hobby to blow it all away.”"

"Dobbin began working on a deal to acquire Rutledge’s firm, turning to Robert Foster’s Capital Canada for assistance. To Foster, the purchase of Toronto Helicopters by Dobbin’s teetering-near-the-edge Sealand Helicopters made a good deal of sense. “Toronto Helicopters was very profitable, which meant it was paying a lot of taxes,” Foster points out, “and one way you value a company is against its aftertax income which, in this case, reduced its value to the seller.” Meanwhile, Sealand was losing money and recording substantial depreciation costs against its fleet of Super Puma aircraft, enabling Sealand to shelter Toronto’s enormous income free of tax."

"The action of Bankers Trust, Jones believed, was akin to extortion, costing Sealand millions of dollars more than anticipated. But there was no backing out. He agreed to the higher interest rate, new terms were drafted, an agreement was signed, and the deal was completed. Craig Dobbin was furious over the actions of Bankers Trust, of course. In retrospect, however, the purchase of Toronto Helicopters proved a major step in transforming the company into a global powerhouse. With Toronto Helicopters rolled into Sealand and its cash flow solving many of Sealand’s liquidity concerns, Craig Dobbin’s eyes brightened at the prospect of the next step in expanding his company, this one even more audacious. One morning shortly after the deal to purchase Toronto Helicopters was completed, Craig Dobbin strolled into Robert Foster's Toronto office. “Robert,” he said, “I want you to get on a plane, fly to Calgary and buy Okanagan Helicopters for me.”"

"a new competitor to enter the market. Craig Dobbin had foreseen the same advantage, of course, but selling the concept of creating a monopoly in an industry is a dangerous thing to do. McLeod Young Weir didn’t need to be sold; they got the message on their own. Joined by Richardson Greenshields, with Robert Foster’s Capital Canada acting as fiscal agent, an 1P0 was underwritten to fund a newly formed corporation named cuc (Canadian Helicopter Company) Helicopters."

"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."

"Robert Foster made his pitch to potential investors based in part on the performance of recently acquired Toronto Helicopters. The addition to Sealand was an established, well-run organization whose steady cash flow promised to alleviate Sealand’s fiscal problems. Adding Okanagan would make Sealand a healthy operation capable of riding out future financial difficulties. The response from Bay Street investors was decidedly cool; as J.C. Jones put it, “Everywhere we went we got sand kicked in our faces.”"