State Rep. J. Brent Haymond may not have received all he was promised in a business transaction with Bonneville Pacific, but he still walked away with $1.4 million.
In January 1989, Bonneville Pacific gave Haymond 83,333 shares of its common stock as part of a package to buy out Haymond's interest in the Lehi Cogeneration Plant. The stock was worth $813,000 at that time.The deal included an option that allowed Haymond to sell the shares back to Bonneville Pacific on Jan. 25, 1990, at $15.60 per share. If the stock was worth more, he didn't have to sell it.
But Haymond chose to sell his stock in January 1990. He made $1.3 million.
It was a good deal. According to stock exchange records, Bonneville Pacific stock was worth $9 per share on Jan. 25, 1990.
Haymond was also supposed to receive $8,333 a month for 20 years from Bonneville Pacific. Altogether, Bonneville Pacific was prepared to pay $3 million to buy Haymond's share of the Lehi Cogeneration Plant. Haymond says he got only $108,000 in monthly payments.
Haymond and Bonneville built the Lehi Cogeneration Plant for $14 million as partners in 1987-89. Haymond's company, Intex, owned 49 percent of the power plant, while Bonneville owned 51 percent. The plant is not associated with Lehi City.
Projections showed the plant would earn $700,000 to $800,000 annually, according to Haymond. It never hit that mark.
Haymond blames the plant's shortcomings on the way Bonneville Pacific chose to build the plant and then operate it.
"The people involved in that area were not interested in getting a lot of advice," Haymond said.
Haymond told the Deseret News he "saw too many red flags" in the way Bonneville operated and he wanted to disassociate himself from the company. When they offered to buy him out, he readily accepted.
Despite his concerns at the time about how Bonneville operated, Haymond had no qualms about the amount he was paid for his share of Lehi Cogeneration.
He told the Deseret News he originated plans for the plant; Bonneville Pacific approached him about getting in on the deal. Later, when the company wanted him out, it came up with a buyout offer.
"When they said they'd buy me out I said `Fine.' Why do I have to answer to the way they do business?" he said.
Haymond said if he had stayed with the plant and it had reached its potential, he would have made a lot more than $1.4 million.
"I did what I did, they bought me out," he said. "It was their move. Looking back, I'm happy I got out. You make a business decision, you move on."