LR Attorney Sued Over Derailed Sign Purchase

A Hot Springs sign company is suing Little Rock businessman and lawyer S. Gene Cauley for allegedly backing out of a deal to buy the 100-year-old company.

Seiz Sign Co. said that after years of being courted by Cauley's Seco Outdoor Advertising of Little Rock, an agreement was finally reached in May 2006, according to the lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

Cauley had offered to pay Seiz $8.75 million for its billboard and commercial sign business, the lawsuit said.

"[W]e would like to do a deal that makes sense to both parties," Cauley wrote in the May 16, 2006, e-mail to David Hamilton, who is the principal shareholder of Seiz. "[H]owever, we will not overpay. [W]e have other places to put the money to achieve our return metrics."

Cauley had already bought City Sign & Neon and Edwards Sign Co., two of Seiz company's largest competitors in the area.

"Cauley was intent on acquiring Seiz Sign Company and monopolizing the billboard business in Garland County," the lawsuit said.

The day after Cauley sent the e-mail, on May 17, 2006, Hamilton accepted the offer, which included a consulting fee for Hamilton of $100,000 a year for five years.

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