Well, that didn’t go well.
Two glitzy Manhattan media companies merged in an $11 million deal back in June. But court papers say the union has already blown up in spectacular style — with execs from one company saying execs from the other may have “absconded” with $1.5 million and threatened to murder their new business partners, and the other side claiming they were defrauded by their new partners.
Troika Media Group scooped up communications and marketing company Mission Media in July, with the new firm representing pooled clients such as luxury giant LVMH, Amazon and Tiffany & Co.
Now, in a suit filed in New York, Troika honchos say that $1.5 million is missing because Mission heads Nicola and James Stephenson either “presented false” financial statements or “absconded” with the money.
The suit also claims James “threatened to kill” senior Troika executive Andrew Bressman. James is also accused of sending Bressman a text calling executives “a bunch of c - - ts,” according to the suit.
Court papers further claim the couple were fired on Jan. 4.
However, in legal docs, Nicola calls the allegations “offensive and comically false” and an “endless campaign of lies.”
Nicola claims she and James were terminated by Troika “without cause in order to avoid their obligation to pay us millions of dollars in back-end payments arising from our sale.”
Nicola goes on to allege the couple have been forced to sell their Brooklyn home and take their kids out of school.
Bressman previously served 18 months in prison for corruption and grand larceny.
A Troika rep told us, “This is a commercial dispute with a terminated employee. We are unable to comment outside of the scope of the legal proceedings, and we categorically deny these allegations.”
Nicola declined to comment.