{"id":4022,"date":"2010-04-24T00:14:19","date_gmt":"2010-04-23T22:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/en\/?p=4022"},"modified":"2014-03-12T16:39:59","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T14:39:59","slug":"miss-piggys-husband-the-sexy-nunand-the-seventh-sin-greed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/2010\/04\/24\/miss-piggys-husband-the-sexy-nunand-the-seventh-sin-greed\/","title":{"rendered":"Miss Piggy\u2019s husband, the\u2026 \u201csexy nun\u201dand the seventh sin: Greed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tPart 2<\/strong> <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t(to read part 1, click here<\/a>)<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIntroducing "The Hero"<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI named him "The Hero" because this client proved out to have incredible sums of patience. After the first meeting with "Miss Piggy's husband", we were asked to meet with a lady, "in charge for all the documents and all the details, the real head of the company". A new meeting was scheduled in order "to sit down and proceed our deal with her". (This happened also with the third client, but I had not joined the meeting – ill – and unfortunately I was informed that things did not turn out as we were expecting them to).\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"The Hero" was a major investor, with tens of millions of Euro liquidity. I was introduced to him by a satisfied client. Skeptical in the beginning ("all you agents are crooks"), he relaxed later on, when he saw that hewas treated with respect and (the obvious) honesty. Having an impressive background and knowing lots of people, he was working a lot and he was very fast in all his investments: "If you accept my price, we move on to due diligence and then final contracts, not too many words and delays" he used to say…\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe sexy "Head of the corporation"…<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tShe did not let us wait for too much. After just 10 minutes of delay, she decided to enter in the meeting, followed by her assistant. This assistant was probably one of the most depressed persons I met in my life. She was looking really unhappy, sad. At her mid 40s, she was trying to look nice, dressed with tight clothes and some interesting jewels. But her eyes were so expressive. Especially when she was looking at her boss…\n<\/p>\n

\n\tShe introduced herself informing us that "I am the real Head of this corporation". Her red high heels ("10 or 12 cms?" I asked myself) were noisy. Her dress code was rather sexy, especially for a business meeting in a company (or a "corporation" as she stated 3 times). Tight skirt over the knees, an impressive cleavage, very expensive jewels. Too much make up, but nothing could hide that she was at her 50s, a little more or less. "When she was young, she must have been very hot" my client commented in Greek.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t… self described "nun"<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first meeting with her was just "to know us better". Nothing serious, another description of the basics, exactly as "Miss Piggy's husband" had narrated. She tried to identify who the client was, how much he was willing to pay and if… she could bypass me (yeah). After one hour's talk, my client informed her that we had to move on and advance. So we agreed to meet again, in a second meeting where she would finally open all her cards.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tShe really had money and she wanted us to know. In the second meeting she appeared (15 minutes late) wearing a skirt with a daring cut, same type of cleavage and a very expensive cross and earrings. Her assistant was even more unhappy than the first time. (How could she compare herself with a… "sexy Head" like her boss?) It was Friday and "The Head of the corporation" started telling us how much she believes in God. She informed us that she was constantly present in church, every Sunday. Then she explained us for about 20 minutes that she loved the hymns and melodies by Greek Orthodox church, "especially the ones coming from monasteries". "Wow, a nun hidden under a sex bomb wannabe" (my client's comment was mean, but he was also very bored…)\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMadness…<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tEverything was… normal, like it happens during every meeting. She discussed about Orthodox church, shouted at her assistant, changed opinion 3 times and also told me that I am rude. Why? Because apparently after 25 minutes of (her) monologue, I kindly asked her to switch the topic to the property for sale. Since that moment, she ignored me until the end of the meeting, but finally she explained to my client all he needed to know. While leaving, she addressed to me again: "You have to be more polite, young man, and not to talk all the time. Sometimes there are people who know more than you". (Correct, noone would disagree)\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the biggest deals in Romania<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt took us another two meetings, but we succeeded to advance to the final stage. Except talking about Orthodox hymns and watching the expensive wardrobe of "Sexy Nun", we also managed to have a serious discussion regarding all the portfolio of the "corporation". Buildings, future buildings to be developed etc. Another 3 meetings followed, where we worked on the documents and the projects themselves.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen my client called me for a conference call together with his lawyer, I didn't believe in my ears when I heard him saying: "All their projects. These are my terms. Contracts and precontracts. My price 170 million euro. Final one. You will receive an official Letter of Intent". He was ready to pay not only for existing buildings, but also for future ones too. At that time, it would be one of the biggest deals in Romania.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tUsually "Miss Piggy's husband" and the "Sexy Nun" were delaying some weeks to reply and then they were sending a letter stating that they were changing the price, or the terms or… everything. This time after 2 weeks of patience, their reply was positive: "Let us start the procedure". Lawyers met, things started getting in order, the deal was scheduled to be signed on a Thursday, at noon…\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe seventh sin: Greed<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore that Thursday, for about two weeks time I had been meeting "Miss Piggy's husband" almost every day. We wanted to agree on the last details of the deal, together with each side's lawyers. I was protecting my client's interests; he wanted to maximize his profit. (Yes, for the ones who don't know, even when you agree on a price, there are too many details which can change the whole deal). Soon I noticed something: Each time we were talking about money, his eyes were sparkling more and more. Once he saw a payment order of some millions and he almost… jumped in order to reach it. (His lawyer prevented him, thank God…) He was trying to ask for more money or less conditions, in order to "take the money and run". But we had found a way to establish a "modus operandi" together. The deal was ready to be signed.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThree banks were involved and all of them were ready. Two law firms had finished their work. A notary had prepared the documents and another notary was asked to check them (representing the seller). Accountants had prepared. Everyone else was ready. "Miss Piggy's husband" had already counted the money (in his mind) about 1.000 times, while the "Sexy Nun" was very happy and excited for the new shopping plans she had organized. But greed was stronger than all of them. Greed, the seventh sin…\n<\/p>\n

\n\t"The deal is off"<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI woke up on Wednesday with a bad feeling. Soon I understood why. I was called by my client's lawyer: "The deal is off. They canceled, asked for 200 million and switched off their phones". I thought he was joking, but I was wrong. "Miss Piggy's Husband" had sent a fax of 5 lines to the notary, informing him that according to his calculations my client had to pay an additional sum of 30 million euro "representing potential profits after 4 – 6 years time". He also gave to my client a deadline of 24 hours to decide whether he would proceed or not. He didn't care about the precontract he had signed, he was blackmailing us… (hoping that my client would think "now that I prepared all, I will give him something more and finish with the case, in order not to lose the deal")\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTwo options for my client<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMy client called me at 13.00. "Let us have a lunch". "What should we do, Ilia?" "As we are civilized and polite people, I think we have just two options: Either we simply ignore him, appear at the notary and if he doesn't come, we take him to court, based on the precontract he had signed, or we simply redraw ourselves". "Is he crazy?" "No, he is just greedy. And I don't suggest you to deal with people who have no ethics. We all lose, me first, but I don't propose to you to continue, or renegotiate". He was very upset, but he decided to simply receive back his money from the Escrow account and redraw. It took him months to forget…\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhy did this happen?<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI admit it, this became my obsession. I spent years to discover why someone refused 170 million euro and behaved like this. Especially as I found out that later on he sold one building at a much lower price than he had been offered and all his other projects froze. Finally I found out…\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt seems that on Tuesday night, "Miss Piggy's husband" had a meeting with a young lady, which was described to me as his lover. During the discussion, she explained to him that 170 million euro was not enough, as his share would not be sufficient, in order to buy an airplane too. So he had to ask for 200. He followed her advice…\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhere are our heroes today?<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMy client invested in several properties (some of them using my services, some others with other companies here). He injected a serious amount of money in Romania, only on income properties. The company where "Miss Piggy's husband" is "The Director" and the "Sexy Nun" is the "Head of corporation" failed to develop all that it expected to. The market had punished them hard enough, but they did not learn their lesson. They still dream and try to trick people, while the banks are ready to block all their properties. Unpaid loans is the reason…\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThink about it… they refused to sell for 170 million euro… earning huge profits… <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \n<\/p>\n

\n\tThis is why my father always used to say: "Buying is difficult. Selling is an art"…<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 2 (to read part 1, click here) Introducing "The Hero" I named him "The Hero" because this client proved out to have incredible sums of patience. After the first meeting with "Miss Piggy's husband", we were asked to meet with a lady, "in charge for all the documents and all the details, the real […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":59454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[204],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4022"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iliaspapageorgiadis.ro\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}