Last night I posted the screenshots of the entity details for Safari Investments LLC, one incorporated in 1996 and the other in 2011. There is a third result of the search, a Safari Investments LLC incorporated in 2004. The real question is whether they are the same entity bearing different file numbers or three completely separate entities bearing the same name. The 1996 and 2011 were incorporated by the same agent.
The Delaware Division of Corporations, in the section about forming a new entity, states:
The Delaware Division of Corporations allows for the reservation of an entity name. This is not a requirement in order to form your entity but will guarantee that your name is held for you for a period of 120 days. You can reserve your entity name online at our web site at https://delecorp.delaware.gov/tin/EntitySearch.jsp. The fee is $75.00. You may charge a Visa, Master Card or Discover card. Please print your confirmation page if you reserve your name online. You may also submit your reservation application in writing. The forms are available at http://corp.delaware.gov/nameres.shtml. You may fax or mail in your request to our office.
Clicking on each of the Safari LLCs will give very few details and no indication of the status of the company. I tried to pay the $20 fee to obtain more information, but my form wouldn't go through.
Without knowing the status of these companies, it's impossible to draw any conclusions. There are several possibilities and I selected the relevant ones for our case:
Cancelled - A certificate of Cancellation has been voluntarily filed by the entity to terminate its existence. This certificate is filed when an entity has dissolved and at the completion of winding up the entity.
Dissolved - A certificate of Dissolution has been voluntarily filed by the corporation to terminate its legal existence.
Expired - A Limited Liability Partnership or Limited Liability Limited Partnership has not filed their annual report in a timely manner. A reinstatement and all Annual Reports that have not been filed, may be filed to reinstate the LLP or LLLP to good standing status. Refer to Title 6, Chapter 15 Section 1003.
Consolidated - A Certificate of Merger and Consolidation has been filed. The existence of this entity has terminated and a new entity has been created as a result of the filing.
Merged - A Certificate of Merger between 1 or more entities has been filed. This entity did not survive the merger but was merged into another entity.
The first three, depending on the dates of the filings, would or would not not establish a connection between the three Safaris.
The last two may mean we're on to something, again depending on the dates.
If anybody is successful in paying the $20 fee to obtain more information about the 1996 entity (or $60 for all three), please send me the results by e-mail and I'll reimburse the costs.
As it stands at the moment, I'm afraid we're just clutching at straws.
UPDATE
Reader Alex has obtained the necessary information about the three Safari LLCs and has sent me the screenshots:
(Please click on images to enlarge)
The LLCs don't appear to be connected with each other, as the dates and the status of each one don't provide any clues, such as suggesting that one had morphed into the next.
We can't find out any of the names behind the older Safaris, so it looks like we have reached a dead end. We can speculate and make conjectures forever, but we don't have any concrete evidence that Sarah Palin was in any way involved with the 1996 or the 2004 LLCs.
The whole exercise was fun and at least we have learned a little bit more about how to incorporate a business in Delaware...
Thank you very much for doing this, Alex.
