CORK & OLIVE: Michael Probst Forms New Corporation
You can’t keep a good man down. Despite the recent plunge into bankruptcy that left his Cork & Olive wine store franchise chain in turmoil, his newly-launched franchisees stranded without the promised support, and employees without jobs or paychecks, C&O founder Michael Probst is launching his next entrepreneurial venture: Mergers & Acquisition Corp.
Commenter secret posted the link to document P08000107072 (available at www.sunbiz.org) showing that Probst formed a new corporation December 4, 2008. The corporate address of Merger and Acquisition Corp. is a home that sold in 2006 for $399,500 (See listing)… an amount equivalent to 6.6 $60,000 Cork & Olive franchise fees.
Florida Profit Corporation
MERGER AND ACQUISITION CORP.
Document Number: P08000107072
Date Filed: 12/04/2008
State: FL
Status: ACTIVE
Principal Address: 418 CASCADE LANE PALM HARBOR FL 34684
Registered Agent Name & Address: PROBST, MICHAEL 418 CASCADE LANE PALM HARBOR FL 34684 US
Officer/Director Detail
Name & Address Title PCEO PROBST, MICHAEL 418 CASCADE LANE PALM HARBOR FL 34684
Title SCFO PROBST, MICHAEL 418 CASCADE LANE PALM HARBOR FL 34684
It’s good to see that someone has weathered the Cork & Olive typhoon without it dampening their entrepreneurial spirit! No doubt there will be exciting things to come from Merger and Acquisition Corp.!
What do you think? Share a comment below.
Related posts: CORK & OLIVE: Ex-Employee Has no Sympathy for Franchisees, CORK & OLIVE: Overview & Blogliography, CORK & OLIVE: The Probst Method of Guilt Avoidance, Cork & Olive Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, What REALLY Uncorked Cork & Olive?
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RAINER APPOLD’s been busy too. His new corp:
Florida Profit Corporation
WINEHARVEST, INC
Document Number P08000109214
Date Filed 12/17/2008
State FL
Status ACTIVE
Principal Address 14375 MYERLAKE CIRCLE CLEARWATER FL 33760
Officer/Director Detail
APPOLD, RAINER
20711 STERLINGTON DRIVE
LAND O LAKES FL 34638
Thanks for the post. Wonder who’s money he will be merging and acquiring?
It’s amazing that a person who took advantage of so many people and left so many employees scrambling to find a new job can simply go out and start a new company and start fattening his wallet at other peoples expense. I don’t understand with so many lawsuits against Probst how he is able to do this again. Sadly he will find new people to con out of their money while he has $400 dinners every night.
This just in. Rainer has thrown in the towel?. Apparently, the corporate offices have been locked shut, all employees laid off and a major creditor is insisting on Chap. 7 liquidation.
Rainer has been selling inventory – including wine – from the back door for cash, to anyone whether they have a license or not.
More to come. (including law suits naming Rainer & Michael)
Mr. Wolf, not all your information is 100% accurate. some is, some is not.
no inventory has been sold from the back door for cash to anyone period.
and not all employees have been laid off.
take it from me… I know 100% for sure. just thought I’d let you know.
Here they go again…. Law suits. Hopefully they will be criminal this time.
A little birdie told me a judgement has been granted against Probst personally. Yeah!
that’s all all I ever hear about is the law suits against the so called Germans. They always get away with screwing our government and laws. what kind of attorneys are they working with? evidently good ones that keep them free! what’s with that? Probst will just walk away as usual. unbelievable isn’t it?. seems there is a court date next tuesday or wednesday and I don’t know how the judge will let them continue operating. looks like it’ll finally go into chatper 7. so where does that leave all the franchisees? I hope still in business and I hope they all get to continue using the name cork and olive……..that is if that is their desire. AND WILL I EVER GET MY FINAL PAYCHECK that is the million dollar question!
The system will work against this theives – once the ball of justice gets rolling they’ll get there judgement day.
To all of the critics…..SHUT UP
None of you ever offered anyone a job. Thanks to Michael, the franchisee’s, and yes even the present owners, a lot of jobs were created. You all got pay checks while you bad mouthed the company. Sorry if you missed a week or 2.
If any of you had the guts you would have started a business , correcting all of the decisions you’ve been so critical of……and you would be the sucess that you claim Cork and Olive could never have been.
The clap trap that you post here is proof that you will always be a follower and never a leader. Spare me your wine-ing!
The employees have been laid off. Period. At the end of this month, Chapter 7 liquidation will be ordered and thats that.
Rainers attorneys have fired him (as of yesterday) for non-payment.
Several state and 1 federal agency have finally started to gather evidence and pay attention to all these boneheads.
There is evidence that wine has been sold to unlicensed buyers and for cash under the table. This beyond the efforts to keep cash from the creditors via side deals, etc……
Rainer & Co. don’t have counsel who claim them at the moment.
Once the chapter 7 goes down you’ll see the creditors get involved in the personal damages etc….
I think most people will be satisfied to see these cockroaches scatter. Then the fun begins.
OMG IT”S gotta be CALI GIRL STEPHIE! no one else would backup this company let alone probster besides you! HOW FUNNY you say that we all got paycheck so what if we missed a week or 2… you certainly got yours didn’t you!!!!!! and then some! and then you run away to the other side of the states as though you were afraid you’d be responsible for this mess you helped your buddy get into. none of us will be satisifed until we get our final paycheck.. dont you get it???? dont YOU get investors and franchisees were screwed out of their life savings and you were lieing right along side of probst and augenti? your just as guilty as the other german roaches! and you were never a leader either just a bullsh****er we are aware of that!
let the fun begin i say!ha
fran·chise (frnchz)
n.
a. Authorization granted to someone to sell or distribute a company’s goods or services in a certain area.
The above is the definition of the word Franchise.
Before Calif. Girl tells more individuals to “shut up” maybe she should think about what she is saying.
First of all Probst and his clan sold a dream not a viable business. He and his clan promised to educate, set up and help each and every franchisee make a successful business.
These franchisees were leaders, they mortgaged their homes, used their life savings and borrowed money to buy Probst “knowledge and expertise” in the wine business. They purchased the right to use the name and sell wine and other products from their location. In turn we all know what happened. Probst, Aurgenti and half wit Nelson all stole their money! They didn’t get anything for their money but more debt. They didn’t stand a chance with these thieving criminals. And Nelson you worked for Probst and were abused verbally daily= what kind of leader were you? You weren’t. You were his puppet, he pulled the strings and you moved. No matter how you try to justify this whole sorted deal, you are all guilty of stealing.
And the stop wine-ing, how cute. How long did it take for you to think that up?
Rainer was calling around to try and get people to sell franchises. Did he really think with all the bad publicity people would be willing to put their money into this “bad dream”? I am so glad the whole corporation will be out of business.
I truly hope the franchisees will have a very successful business in spite of the hell they have already endured.
Just so everyone knows the corporate stores were locked up in the middle of the day Friday Jan. 30th. They are going to auction all inventory if anyone wants to bid on some crappy wine…or maybe you would like to buy the tasting table?
so is it true what I just heard? that the company finally went chapter 7 and the the stores are closed ? where does that leave the franchise locations? I almost purchased a franchise back in April but I did my homework and talked with many people and found out what type of man this Michael Probst really was and that gave me my decision which was NOT to buy and support his lifestyle. Rumor also has it that he has yet to raise enough funds to open his new business? GLORY GLORY LET”S HOPE NOT!
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You ask where this leave’s the Franchises. It’s very simple. They are paying or not paying rent on leases that they should have never signed! Most will never make a dime and will most likely never be able to sell their stores. Most will probably eventually just close and file for Ch 7 too or maybe just barely make a small salary. The greedy mall owners are also to blame. How can you pay 20 dollars a square foot and sell 100 dollars of wine each day?
its all over now
move on
you certainly moved on all the way to California didn’t you Ms. Nelson er Mrs. Woody Pecker. Didnt want to take the chance of having some bad things being said about you but that didnt work because many are still blaming you as much as Augenti and probst and rightfully so. If only you knew how many employees did not like you because of the way you treated them to their face and then behind their backs. tsk tsk. how shameful. good thing we dont have to worry about working with you or the other two ever again. btw I got some great deals on crappy wine at the oldsmar store today!!!!!!!!!!!! i hope you dont blindside anyone in california with your lies and b/s especially the man you finally convinced to marry you so you could have a home. we are so not stupid as you think. you no longer live here so leave us alone so we can at least try to collect out FINAL PAYCHECK THAT YOU WERE AWARE WE DIDNT RECEIVE YET PAID YOURSELF A BONUS AND YOUR FINAL PAYCHECK – WORD GOT OUT THE DAY YOU DID THIS GEESH. HOW LOW CAN ONE BE. how can you sleep at night knowing you helped with the demise of the company? can you answer that?
i cant wait to write to the immigration department to help send the germans back to where they belong. I dont believe he pumped any money into the US economy but into his own pocket. how illegal is that according to the requirements of the E2 Visa? anyone know where this cali girl lives? i’m sure she has some important documents she could share with the bankruptcy courts.
thank you admin for posting the auction page. i’ll send you more info as I receive it. all the investors have a right to know about these things and i dont think they are being told. Nor have any of the old employees. Funny how people in CALIFORNIA know about certain things when they say they’ve moved on! Boy could I tell you info about HER! LOL
It is over for the corp. stores. No one should ever forget that fellow Americans knew and proceeded to screw every employees, franchisee, investors, landlords, distributors and all the families of theirs so they could make a paycheck. Augenti, Calif. Girl/Nelson, and everyone in the corp. office new what they were doing and didn’t care. They in their own minds can justify it with saying it wasn’t their responsibility to inform anyone, they just worked for Probst. I say you are wrong. You everyday are morally responsible to do the right thing and you didn’t!
Now, with moving on…. Please help the franchisees by purchasing your wine from their stores. Skip Publix and go in and buy from them. The economy is terrible but who is doing without a drink or two? Come on we could all use a bit of happy.
nah nah na-nah na
screw you little people….my employees loved me….and i’m untouchable….so i’m stupid….ha ha ha….i got paid did you…..so who is stupid now!
dear cali girl, OMG YOU UNTOUCHABLE? what a snake you are for saying the little employees loved you. YOU have NO IDEA what your lovable employees said about you behind your back! You just made yourself look even more STUPID than before and proved how low you are! YOU got paid by forgetting and screwing the employees and ran away to california so who is the real chicken here! get a life and hopefully others will get to know the real you which doesn’t consist of much of anything. I hope all the franchisees and ex employees get word of this and turn your butt in for all the wrong doings you did – you know what i’m talking about. I feel sorry for the man who married you hopeing he will get wind of who you really are and the user you have become! now GO AWAY and fall into the ocean.
BTW CALI GIRL WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THAT MAN AT THE ICE SKATING RINK WHO WAS MARRIED AND YOU WERE SLEEPING WITH HIM WHEN YOUR BOYFRIEND WASN’T AROUND AND YOU TALK ABOUT LITTLE PEOPLE? HMM. THINGS THAT MAKE YA GO HMM.
dear bob(regina) you are so angry….get over it….i knew you were job hunting all of the time….several of your contacts called me…………C&O is dead….let it go
I wasn’t going to comment on the recent post… but…
Remember once a cheat always a cheat. What you do in your private life you usually do in your “professional” life. There is the pattern.
Judge people by there actions as much as their words.
Well, if the village is looking for it’s idiot, look no further then “California Girl.” Could you at least try to portray Stephanie Nelson correctly? Any one who had the displeasure of working with Stephanie knew her personality and how she dealt with employees of C&O. There are many things on a negative level that can be said about Stephaine but one thing is for certain, Stephanie would never get on this website and make such immature, retarded & horribly written insults. Stephanie was a classic avoider. She never liked to confront issues and she would never waste her time participating in this banter. Stephanie removed herself from C&O as far as she possibly could and would not get on here to read all the drama & gossip. She had little patience for it when she worked in the corporate office and was to cold and impersonal to care what people thought of her. California Girl, she also would never be so stupid to call herself “California Girl.” You also gave your fake personality away by saying things such as
” nah nah na-nah na
screw you little people….my employees loved me….and i’m untouchable….so i’m stupid….ha ha ha….i got paid did you…..so who is stupid now!”
Anyone who worked with Nelson knew she would never say or write anything like that.
You also messed up by calling “Bob” Regina and claiming you knew she was job hunting because her contacts called Stephaine. Let me think here for a second “Cali Girl”, Regina never listed Stephanie as a contact. You obviously don’t know Regina as well as you think. Regina is more creative then using a fake name such as “Bob” and she cannot stand poor spelling & grammar. Whoever “Bob” is, needs a little English 101. Many of us who have seen Regina’s resume know who her contacts are and Stephanie was never one of them. You seem to have screwed the pooch in your efforts to stir some drama up and to make people believe Stephanie would post those comments. If there is one thing many of us know about her, she could care less about anyone from C&O and she could care less about this website. Your “Cali. Girl” persona sounds more like Augenti or the useless receptionist also known as Susan. Whoever you really are, I cannot imagine you did a very good job working for C&O based on your level of stupidity and immature mentality. On a final note, all I have to say to you “Cali. Girl” is if your are going to play games, you better bring it much better then that!
Nelson is not untouchable – here whereabouts are known and she will be dealt with as will Probst & Appold. This is a necessary process unfolding that will segway to criminal investigation.
The nice thing is, the trademark will be owned by the remaining franchisees who banded together with legal representation ; Altamonte, Lakeland, Sarasota and Winter Garden.
From what i understand they are reinventing the model and have plans of their own. I wish them well. In the mean time, the wolf is at the door following the Germans blood trail.
Closed the door on Saturday in Ocoee now it’s going to be a real esate office.
But, at least people came in when we had a 50% off closing sale. Thanks!
Wolf: Won’t the name “Cork & Olive” belong to the creditors as well? But I’d hope they’d let existing franchisees continue to use the name for free indefinitely – if they really want to keep using the name…
I represent the bankruptcy trustee and we are reviewing this matter. A lot of people have brought their complaints to the trustee. Unfortunately, most of the information is not all that useful as most people do not understand the trustee’s role in cases such as this. The trustee’s duty is to administer assets of the estate and pursue recovery of preferential or fraudulent transfers (as defined by the Bankruptcy Code, not by anyone else). That being said, I welcome any information that could be provided that would assist the trustee in prosecuting her duties. So far, I have heard a lot of negative comments about former management but no one has pointed to an actual transaction that would be the basis for a recovery for the bankruptcy estate. I welcome any comments or information any of you may have; my email address is: herb@donicalaw.com
HerbDonica…
who do you represent? ….michael’s corp…..rainer’s corp?,…..creditors???
…….i may have the key.
tell me more.
As I said the first time:
HerbDonica on March 4th, 2009 9:35 am
“I represent the bankruptcy trustee and …”
I represent the court appointed bankruptcy trustee. She has alredy changed the locks so we do not need any keys. If you have any information, that would be nice.
changed the locks??
your killing me
Dear insider – heck I even knew what you meant by ‘ i may have the key’! LOL I needed a good laugh from all of this after reading the locks have been changed scenario! ROFLMAO
Dear Herbdonica – I dont think the insider meant he/she actually has a “KEY” to fit the doorlock but key informattion that might help!
apparently…….the court has weaker players than the defendants
never mind
Cork & Olive’s Michael Probst, Deborah Augenti launch new franchise
Have you heard about this? Your input is invited:
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/cork-olive-team-launches-solera-wine-franchise-beware/