Hands says he was betrayed over EMI
GUY Hands, the head of private equity firm Terra Firma, accused senior Citigroup banker David Wormsley of betraying him over the sale of EMI, as he gave evidence in a New York court yesterday.
Hands told the court he would never have bid for the record label if he had known all other interested bidders had pulled out. He alleged Wormsley misled him into believing another bidder, private equity group Cerberus, had submitted a 262p per share bid, leading him to up Terra Firma’s offer to 265p per share.
“I knew him well. I trusted him. I considered him my closest business colleague,” Hands said of Wormsley.
Terra Firma paid £4bn for EMI in 2007. It has since struggled financially and nearly defaulted on debts.