Apollo seeks to bar Cooper's breakup fee

Apollo Tyres asked a judge to bar Cooper Tire & Rubber Co from having access to more than $112 million set aside in case Apollo's $2.5-billion acquisition of the tyre maker collapses, according to court filings.

Apollo's lawyers asked Delaware Chancery Court Judge Sam Glasscock III on Friday to deny Cooper executives access to a $112.5-million letter of credit that covers breakup fees for the $35-a-share buyout. Cooper officials contend Apollo executives suffered buyer's remorse after agreeing to acquire the US's fourth-largest tyre maker in June.

Apollo filed the motion to bar Cooper from tapping the letter of credit, which covers a "Reverse Termination Fee to which Cooper is not entitled under the agreement", according to the filing. It requested a December 24 hearing on the request.

The dispute over the breakup fees is the latest between Cooper and Apollo over the faltering buyout. The Delaware Supreme Court sent the case over the deal back to Glasscock last week to decide whether Apollo wrongfully violated an agreement to buy the US tyre maker.

Glasscock last month rejected Cooper's claim Apollo breached the contract by dragging its feet in seeking to negotiate a contract with a US steelworker's union that would have helped clear the way for the deal. Glasscock allowed Cooper to appeal his ruling to Delaware's highest court, which declined to hear it.

Apollo's motion to bar access to the breakup fee was "aimed at actions Cooper had no intention of taking", Anne Roman, a Cooper spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.