Bloomberg / DPK in the News
Macquarie Ordered to Face Fraud Claim Tied to Hertz Spinoff
Macquarie Group Ltd. will have to face the fraud and defamation claims of an executive who says the bank ousted him from running Advantage Rent A Car after they teamed up to buy the business from Hertz Global Holdings Inc.
Macquarie lost a bid to throw out the lawsuit brought by Sanford Miller, an industry veteran who says the company’s conduct cost him millions of dollars when Advantage collapsed into bankruptcy in 2013, according to a Nov. 17 decision by a New York state court judge.
The dispute stems from Hertz’s $2.3 billion acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, a deal that raised concerns among antitrust officials who worried that the combination would raise prices for consumers by cutting the number of major rental-car companies to three from four.
Justice Jeffrey Oing of New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan said Miller’s claims for fraud, defamation and tortious interference with existing contract could proceed. The judge dismissed a claim for tortious interference with prospective business relations.
“We look forward to moving ahead with prosecuting our claims,” Miller’s lawyer, Thomas Dewey, said in an e-mail. Miller claims he was ousted in a scheme engineered by Macquarie so the bank could gain control of the Advantage assets.
