TPG Avoids Billion-Dollar Claim Over Defunct Greek Telecom Firm

A fraud lawsuit against TPG Inc. by investors in the bankrupt Tim Hellas Telecommunications SA must be dismissed, New York’s highest court said Thursday.

The investors, through Wilmington Trust Co., claimed that TPG was accountable for the collapse of Hellas, after it and Apax Partners LLP teamed up to bleed the company dry. At issue was whether TPG should face “alter ego” liability for the web of European shell entities that acted as the telecom’s corporate parents before it entered insolvency and reorganized. To hold TPG liable, the plaintiffs, who lost over $1 billion, had to pierce the corporate veil. ...