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Terra Firma v Citigroup appeal could get March hearing

By | Published on Monday 16 January 2012

Terra Firma v Citigroup

So, Terra Firma’s brief but costly dabblings in the music industry may now be nothing more than good pub chat fodder for former EMI staffers, but the equity group’s audacious takeover of EMI in 2007 is set to get at least one more airing in court, maybe as soon as March.

As much previously reported, Terra Firma sued Citigroup in 2010 over the advice it received from the US bank ahead of its EMI acquisition, claiming the bankers provided shoddy counselling, partly because of a conflict in interest, with different divisions of the finance firm working for EMI and Terra Firma at the same time.

The subsequent court hearing in New York was all rather amusing really, with neither Terra Firma nor Citigroup coming out of the proceedings particularly well, though the bankers won the court battle itself. Terra Firma and its chief Guy Hands are appealing that ruling, and according to the Mail On Sunday the appeal could be heard in March.

Since the original ruling, of course, Citigroup, as the main money lender to the Terra Firma owned EMI, repossessed the major label and is in the process of selling it on to Universal Music and Sony/ATV. There’s a chance Terra Firma may also sue over the way the bankers took control of EMI this time last year, which means the whole debacle could as yet have two more court hearings dedicated to it.



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