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Terra Firma v Citigroup: Why no phone call Guy?

By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 25 October 2010

So, Terra Firma boss Gary ‘The Guy’ Hands took to the stand for a third time on Friday to diss his old mate David ‘The Worm’ Wormsley of Citigroup Inc in the ongoing court battle over the former’s claims that he only bought dead weight EMI for four billion because the latter gave him dud advice. 

As much previously reported, Citigroup denies providing any advice that could be labelled “dud”, and its legal team is trying to convince the New York jury hearing the case that Gary is just bitter about how much money he lost in what turned out to be a catastrophically bad investment, and now wants someone else to take the blame for his decision to buy EMI. 

On Friday, Citi’s legal man Ted Wells questioned Hands on why he had never tackled Wormsley directly about the advice he believed to be dud, if and when it was revealed to him that the information The Worm had provided just before Terra Firma bought EMI was inaccurate. That is to say, why did he only start making allegations about Wormsley’s conduct once he’d decided to sue Citigroup, shortly after Citi knocked back Terra Firma’s  proposal they write off a billion of the debt owed by the music company to the bank? 

“You are accusing a good friend of ten years of lying and defrauding you, yet at no time did you pick up the phone and tell him you thought he had misled you?” Wells asked. Hands confirmed that was the case, adding that he believed it would be “inappropriate” for him to have made such a phone call. 

Hands is expected to wrap up his testimony this morning after which Terra Firma’s legal team is expected to call The Worm to the stand as a hostile witness. Insiders say the case could run for up to another fortnight before the jury are sent into a room to deliberate.