I entered into a purchase and sales agreement to sell my company in 2002 the deal was put on hold by the company buying us (Tyco International) due to there CEO being arrested all acquisitions where put on hold. As a result company ended up in litigation with Simplex Grinnel a branch Tyco. Now we have to agree to mediation. Or go to court. My question is Tyco never Canaeled the purchase only notafied us it was on hold is the deal still on??

Hello p:

Normally a purchase and sales agreement would have time lines that a prospective purchaser would have to follow. I don't know if you had any of those in your agreement. Plus, you certainly had an attorney draw up the agreement, didn't you? That would be the guy to call about this.

However, I guess the real answer regarding what you should do is dependent on the following question: DO YOU STILL WANT TO SELL? If you do, then I'd call up Tyco and ask 'em what's up. If you don't, then I don't think you need to worry. I don't think a deal that's on hold for 6 years is a viable deal... Everything is changed...

excon

PS> After re-reading your question once again, I see that there has been some recent happenings... Tell me about them - in DETAIL please.

Hello p:

Normally a purchase and sales agreement would have time lines that a prospective purchaser would have to follow. I dunno if you had any of those in your agreement. Plus, you certainly had an attorney draw up the agreement, didn't you? That would be the guy to call about this.

However, I guess the real answer regarding what you should do is dependent on the following question: DO YOU STILL WANT TO SELL? If you do, then I'd call up Tyco and ask 'em what's up. If you don't, then I don't think you need to worry. I don't think a deal that's on hold for 6 years is a viable deal.... Everything is changed....

excon

The attorney we used is dead. He was a 1 person firm this has been a problem on many things. There is no time on the agreement. I would still like to sell. Simplex which is the branch of Tyco that my company would have reported to is looking to have me sign off on a mediation agreement. In this agreement it states I give up rights to any contract with a partner of Simplex. This needs to be sighned today. I need time to get a attorney up to speed on the purchase and sales if it is worth the effort after all this time. It was not pursued due to the Simplex/Tyco pending mediation. Now it appears they are not looking to complete the deal my contract attorney whom deals mostly with public construction law wants me to sign the mediation. He never mentioned pushing the deal forward a friend whom dose large corprate buyouts brought it up. I do not want to put money into a attotney specilizing in this if it is a waste of time any advise is wecome.

Hello p:

I know you don't want to hire another attorney, but I would. I don't know how much money is involved in this transaction, but I don't think Tyco is interested in a little mom and pop shop. So, we're probably talking about at least a million bucks.

Look, I'm a guy who wants an attorney to go over EVERYTHING I sign. I think they're WORTH what I spend on them. Other people don't share that opinion of lawyers. That could be because they hire the cheapest lawyer they can find. Me?? I try to hire the MOST expensive ones I can find. They tend to be cheaper in the long run.

excon

Look, I'm a guy who wants an attorney to go over EVERYTHING I sign. I think they're WORTH what I spend on them. Other people don't share that opinion of lawyers. That could be because they hire the cheapest lawyer they can find. Me??? I try to hire the MOST expensive ones I can find. They tend to be cheaper in the long run.

Well said, excon... Or better yet, hire a good attorney whose specialization includes business law. With that, nothing could go wrong unless its bound to.