MUSIC-BOND FIRM SUES
PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE CO.

The Wall Street Journal
November 17, 1999

New York - The creator of "Bowie bonds" is strumming a loud and sour note through its lawyers.

Pullman Group LLC, which devised the bonds that musicians can sell based on future royalties, sued Prudential Insurance Co. of America, Newark, N.J., and CAK/Universal Credit Corp., among others, claiming they backed out of a joint-venture agreement.  In the suit, filed in a state court here, Pullman is asking more than $1 billion in damages.

Pullman, led by investment banker David Pullman, has undertaken bond securitizations for such performers as David Bowie and James Brown.

Prudential had been working with Mr. Pullman's firm to develop other entertainment bonds, but the company is now working on the project with CAK/Universal, Mr. Pullman claims.

"Desperate people sometimes do desperate things," responded Charles A. Koppelman, chairman of CAK/Universal, a joint venture between Prudential and Mr. Koppelman, based here.  A Prudential spokesman said, "We believe the allegations are without merit."