Siemens First Capital Commercial Finance Wins Suit Dismissal

Siemens First Capital Commercial Finance LLC won dismissal of a lawsuit accusing it of breach of contract over the cancellation of an initial public offering for a security-alarm service business.

Whitecap (US) Fund I LP sued Siemens First Capital in New York state court in March 2012, accusing it of “intentionally destroying” three related companies that planned a public offering. Whitecap, the majority owner of the three companies, said Siemens told it the companies defaulted on an $85 million loan because the IPO hadn’t been completed by March 1, 2011.

Justice O. Peter Sherwood in an order dated Feb. 21 dismissed the suit, saying that the decision to wind down the alarm companies after the failure to meet the deadline is “consistent with the agreement of the parties” to convert one of the companies into a single-purpose entity in order to sell its assets.

Siemens First Capital Commercial Finance is a joint venture between the U.S. financial services unit of Munich-based engineering company Siemens AG (SIE) and Boca Raton, Florida-based financial firm First Capital, according to its website.

The case is Whitecap (US) Fund I LP v. Siemens First Capital Commercial Finance LLC, 650888/2012, New York state Supreme Court (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net