Siguler Guff files complaint against Boyazny over BRIC investment info, other data
Global private equity firm Siguler Guff & Co. has filed a complaint and summons in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against Maria Boyazny, who recently left the firm to found her own investment group, MB Global Partners, stating that "Boyazny contrived to steal SG's most valuable and commercially sensitive information," including the company's BRIC database, "an extremely valuable piece of intellectual property owned by SG."
Boyazny formed her own firm, MB Global Partners, in October 2010, in partnership with G2 Investment Group, with the formation announcement noting at the time that "Boyazny has been the Portfolio Manager of $4.5 billion in assets across Siguler Guff's Distressed Opportunities Funds I, II, III and IV." According to the SG filing, publicly available on the Supreme Court of the State of New York website, the database included data on performance, cashflows and portfolio composition of all SG's BRIC fund-of-funds investments since these began in 2006. According to the SG filing, Boyazny never worked for the company on its BRIC investments, amounting to some $1.5 billion, but took information on these investments nonetheless.
The filing further described the BRIC database, containing details on over 400 companies held by the funds in the SG portfolios, as the "crown jewels" of SG's intellectual property, and Boyazny's actions as "potentially devastating." According to the filing, SG will seek to compel Boyazny and all acting with her to destroy and certify under oath the destruction of all SG confidential information or material derived from it.
Boyazny's legal counsel provided a statement to AVCJ on the filing. "The allegations made against Maria Boyazny by her former employer Siguler Guff, are without foundation or merit and she will take any and all steps necessary to defend herself against them. Throughout her career at Siguler Guff Ms. Boyazny maintained an impeccable track record as a portfolio manager of the Distressed Opportunity Funds which represents over 50% of Siguler Guff's business. During her time with the firm, she was instrumental in delivering top-performing funds to investors and growing assets for funds under her management."
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