6.03 PM Tuesday, 19 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 05:07 06:20 12:29 15:54 18:33 19:47
19 March 2024

Citigroup sued by Terra Firma over EMI Group deal

The Citigroup Center in New York. Citigroup has described the lawsuit as 'without merit'. (AP)

Published
By Reuters

British private equity firm Terra Firma accused Citigroup of fraud and sued the bank for billions in damages in connection with Terra Firma's purchase of music business EMI Group in 2007, court documents filed in New York showed.

Terra Firma accuses Citigroup of inflating the price it paid for EMI by failing to reveal that the only other bidder, Cerberus Capital Management, had withdrawn hours before auction for EMI closed, said Terra Firma's attorney Jonathan Sherman.

Instead, the Citi executive working on the auction told Terra Firma shortly before the bidding deadline that it had to top a purported Cerberus bid to win EMI, Sherman said. Had Terra Firma known it was the only bidder left, it would not have bought EMI, he said.

"The damages are some amount of equity, which we think reaches into the billions of dollars, reflecting equity that we wouldn't have parted with but for the fraud that Citigroup committed," said Sherman, of Boies, Schiller & Flexner.

Private equity firms have struggled to keep their portfolio companies healthy amid the financial crisis, and some private equity-owned companies have either filed for bankruptcy or are struggling to meet debt covenants. Many buyout firms went deep into debt to acquire companies during the buyout boom of 2005-7 and are now paying the price, while banks are unwilling to take further pain on loans they made in better times.

Terra Firma bought EMI at the height of the buyout boom in May 2007 in a £4 billion (Dh23.88bn) deal, closing the deal with a £2.5bn loan from Citi and £1.5bn in equity.

Citi served as advisor, lender and broker to EMI and sole financier to Terra Firma, which contends it also overpaid for its debt as a result of the fraud, the lawsuit said.

In a statement, Citigroup described the lawsuit as "without merit" and said the bank would "defend ourselves vigorously".

The complaint also alleges that Citigroup undermined Terra Firma's ability to manage EMI by fuelling speculation about the music company's financial health in an analyst note in October and by refusing to restructure its loans. "Citi is trying to generate the conditions to make a covenant breach possible", possibly as part of a plan to take control of the company and sell it to Warner Music Group, Sherman said.

The lawsuit comes a couple of months after Terra Firma Capital Partners Chairman and Chief Investment Officer Guy Hands said EMI's results were improving and it was in "gentlemanly" talks with Citigroup over the debt, which is costing EMI 10 per cent a year, or about £300 million.

 

Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.