Opinion ID: 803329
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Appellants and SKF Meet

Text: We recount the facts in the light most favorable to the Appellants, who were the non-moving party below. See Agusty-Reyes v. Dep't of Educ., 601 F.3d 45, 48 (1st Cir. 2010). Appellants were the co-founders and sole shareholders of Environamics, Inc. (Environamics), a Delaware corporation based in New Hampshire. Until its failure, described infra, Environamics designed, manufactured, and sold pumps and sealing devices for various applications. In April of 2003, after defaulting on a commercial loan, Environamics was left with a $1.5 million debt to Pioneer Capital (Pioneer). During the fall of 2003, Environamics -2- solicited potential investors and/or purchasers in order to raise money to satisfy its debt to Pioneer. In addition, Environamics and Pioneer discussed converting some of Environamics's debt to Pioneer into an equity position for Pioneer. In September of 2003, however, a savior appeared -- or so it seemed. SKF1 learned that Environamics had developed and patented a universal power frame, a device that SKF had been trying to develop for some time. Appellants met with Timothy Richards (Richards), vice president of SKF, to discuss a possible relationship between SKF and Environamics. Two weeks after this meeting, Richards called Rockwood and told him that SKF had decided to move very rapidly toward a possible acquisition of Environamics. During conversations over the next few weeks, Richards repeatedly expressed SKF's interest in acquiring Environamics. During this period, Environamics began to share confidential business information with SKF. In addition, Richards told Appellants that in view of SKF's planned acquisition, Environamics should cease seeking out new distribution channels for its products. Appellants complied with this request. Appellants also ceased looking for other opportunities for financing to pay off the debt to Pioneer. 1 SKF is a subsidiary of AB SKF, a Swedish company. -3-