Troika Media Group is suing a former co-owner of a business it acquired in 2022, asking a bankruptcy court to halt his lawsuit against a lender key to Troika’s restructuring, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The advertising-services provider, which filed for bankruptcy in December, on Wednesday sued Thomas Marianacci, co-owner of Converge Direct, a company Troika bought for $125 million. The lawsuit asks the Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York to suspend the state-court lawsuit filed by Marianacci against lender Blue Torch Finance seeking $29 million, a suit Troika says would impede its restructuring. Troika acquired Converge Direct partly through $75 million in loans provided by Blue Torch, $29 million of which went into an escrow account to be released to Marianacci and his co-owners after certain Converge audited financial statements were delivered. The funds, however, haven’t been delivered, as the two sides disagree on whether the conditions to release them have been met. In November — prior to Troika’s bankruptcy filing — Marianacci sued to collect.
