Athene Holding, an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, and Caldera Holdings are caught in a tug of war over retirement annuities specialist American Equity Investment Life (AEL)… now their insurance battle has taken a new twist.
Former Apollo senior managing director Imran Siddiqui, who created Caldera with ex-Athene executive Stephen Cernich, has filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court against private equity group Apollo, its co-founder Leon Black, and Athene.
The world renowned investor and the firms are accused of “disparaging Caldera in the marketplace, issuing commercial and legal threats to those doing or considering business” with Siddiqui’s company, which was formed last year.
A report by the Financial Times said the lawsuit – which is demanding at least US$1.5 billion in damages – claims that Apollo’s acts have pushed a supposed Caldera investor, poised to support its AEL bid, to back out.
Apollo, for its part, has alleged in multiple cases, that Siddiqui was using confidential information obtained from his time at Black’s company in his new undertakings. The Caldera complaint denies this allegation.
Meanwhile Reuters quoted Apollo spokesperson Charles Zehren as saying in a statement: “We strongly believe Caldera’s claims completely lack any merit, and we intend to defend ourselves vigorously.”
