Very interesting post. I don’t know any of the folks involved there, but being cynical I hope he had some type of contract or something the forbade those ’interested’ from using the design etc in a different business. In the tech industry they call it ’brain rape’. now that the sale fell thru, and he’s going to auction off the machinery, what’s to stop them from buying it pennies on the dollar and doing it anyway?
Like I said, they could all be great people that would never take advantage, and I truly hope that’s the case, but the cynic in me saw red flags.