Court dismisses buyout suit against Warner's Bronfman

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A court on Tuesday dismissed a $100 million lawsuit against Warner Music Group Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman, which claimed he failed to compensate a former CEO of publisher Simon & Schuster for conceiving the 2003 buyout of Warner.

Former CEO Dick Snyder said he helped Bronfman negotiate the $2.6 billion purchase of Warner Music from Time Warner Inc but was never paid for his services.

But the New York County Supreme Court unanimously decided to dismiss the case and ordered the payment of costs to Bronfman.

Snyder's suit had claimed Bronfman broke a gentleman's agreement to share proceeds from the Warner Music buyout deal.

Bronfman's lawyers described Snyder's claims as "absolute fiction" and said the ruling was a "complete victory" for their client.

"This opportunistic lawsuit was a lame attempt to extract money from Mr. Bronfman, whose hard work, vision and creativity helped bring about the successful acquisition of Warner Music," said Orin Snyder of Gibson, Dunn & Cruchter.

"From the outset, Mr. Bronfman refused to settle because he believed that, as a matter of principle, it was important to fight this frivolous lawsuit to the end," added Snyder who is no relation to Dick Snyder.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Robert Gold of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, declined to comment.

The case is in re Snyder vs Bronfman, Supreme Court of the State of New York County, No. 07-105454.

(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Bernard Orr)