What next for Cooper and Apollo?
While it is clear that each side is effectively blaming the other for the collapse of the deal, the actual cost of the defunct courtship ritual is somewhat more opaque. We know that Cooper’s lawyers will be defending the firm against claims for the $50 million it agreed in the business equivalent of a pre-nuptial agreement, but several newspapers report that Apollo has to fight off claims for a significantly bigger $112 million break-up fee. And of course none of this puts a price on the large sums of money spent out on corporate lawyers or even more importantly on lost time. So what’s next for the two companies?