Hands vs. Wormsley

THE OPPONENTS: The EMI case hinges on a series of phone calls and emails between former friends Guy Hands and David Wormsley. “Hands will likely relish the chance to put his own case forward in a court of law, accustomed as he is to making emotional and often contrarian speeches at industry conferences and the like,” Cauchi writes. “His larger-than-life persona and outspoken reputation is well-known and, apart from investors in his funds, he is generally accountable only to himself… He remains chairman and chief investment officer and is very much ‘the main man,’ as someone close to the firm said. Pitched against Hands will be Wormsley, just one of the many investment bankers caught up in the buyout frenzy that saw banks falling over themselves to lend increasingly large chunks of debt to finance record leveraged buyouts, several of which have subsequently turned sour.” (10/13a)