Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Genesco Inc., the shoe retailer seeking to be bought by Finish Line Inc., fell the most in five years after UBS AG, Switzerland's biggest bank, asked a judge to let it out of an agreement to finance the $1.5 billion acquisition.

Genesco's unexpected second-quarter loss and earnings difficulties at Finish Line make it unlikely that the merged company will generate enough cash to pay its debt, UBS said Nov. 16 in a filing in federal court in Manhattan.

``The combined Finish Line-Genesco entity would be insolvent,'' UBS said.

Genesco plunged $9.25, or 24 percent, to $29.98 at 4:21 p.m. in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the biggest drop since July 2002. Finish Line, based in Indianapolis, rose 6 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $3.42, on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Finish Line, the owner of the namesake shoe stores, said Nov. 15 in a court filing in Nashville, Tennessee, that Genesco's financial position had been misrepresented. Subsequently, Finish Line was invoking a ``material adverse'' clause in the merger agreement that would allow it to end the deal, announced in June.

Genesco, the owner of the Journeys chain for teens, sued Finish Line in September, asking the Nashville court to compel the completion of the takeover.

Finish Line spokeswoman Elise Hasbrook and Genesco spokeswoman Claire McCall declined to comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brad Skillman in New York at bskillman1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 19, 2007 16:56 EST