Private equity firms accused of siphoning £720m out of Greek wireless operator Two mainstays of the private equity industry, Apax and TPG, found themselves in a European court last week in a legal dispute that thrust the workings of buyout groups into the spotlight. The two groups were accused in Luxembourg of having wrongly siphoned €1bn (£720m) out of Greece’s first wireless operator, TIM Hellas. The hearing was the latest stage in a case that has been in and out of the courts since 2011 – two years after TIM Hellas collapsed into administration Joint liquidators to the group argued that TIM Hellas “did not in the slightest have the available profit” to redeem shares held by the private equity houses in a refinancing deal. Instead, the money to redeem the shares was funded by more than €1bn of debt issued by TIM Hellas, then part of a telecoms holding company that had been moved to Luxembourg. According to the TIM Hellas liquidators, this breached Luxembourg rules. Continue reading...
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