American Apparel to Get $25 Million in Financing From Hedge Fund (Wall Street Journal)
American Apparel Inc. has reached a preliminary agreement to get $25 million in financing from hedge fund Standard General in a deal aimed at shoring up the company’s finances and reconstituting its board, a person familiar with the matter said. Standard General effectively controls more than 40% of the company’s shares through an arrangement it reached last month with Dov Charney, American Apparel’s ousted founder and chief executive. It had warned it would consider launching a proxy fight to win board seats if an agreement wasn’t reached. The deal gives American Apparel funds to repay a $10 million loan from Lion Capital, another investment firm, which formally demanded repayment Monday.
HFRI: Hedge Funds Up 3.2% In First Half (FINalternatives)
Hedge funds continued to sputter in June, closing out the first half of the year far behind the broader markets, according to Hedge Fund Research. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index added 1.31% last month to end the first half up 3.2%. By contrast, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is up more than 6% on the year. A handful of strategies tracked by the HFRI suite were able to top that. India-focused funds have soared 33.36% this year (5.49% in June), and energy and basic materials funds are up 11.36% (3.81%).
Carlyle Carry Fund Valuations Rise 5 Percent In Q2 (RTT News)
Private equity giant Carlyle Group L.P. said Monday that its preliminary carry fund valuations increased 5 percent during the second quarter of 2014. Carlyle’s carry funds are the investment funds that the company advises. These include the buyout funds, growth capital funds, real asset funds, infrastructure funds, certain energy funds, and distressed debt and mezzanine funds, where the company receives a special residual allocation of income. However, it excludes the company’s structured credit funds, hedge funds, fund of funds vehicles, and the NGP funds.
NY Jury Acquits Ex-Hedge Fund Founder’s Brother (TIME)
The brother of an imprisoned ex-billionaire hedge fund founder was acquitted of conspiracy on Tuesday. A Manhattan jury returned the verdict at the federal insider trading trial of Rengan Rajaratnam. The smiling defendant hugged his lawyers and relatives when the verdict was read. His brother, Raj Rajaratnam, is the founder of the Galleon Group of hedge funds and is serving an 11-year sentence for making up to $75 million illegally.
Hedge funds get USD16.9bn in May (HedgeWeek)
The hedge fund industry took in USD16.9 billion (0.7 per cent of assets) in May, down slightly from USD19.1 billion (0.8 per cent of assets) in April, according to TrimTabs and BarclayHedge. “Hedge funds raked in USD72.2 billion in the first five months of this year, the strongest January-May inflows since 2007,” says Sol Waksman, president and founder of BarclayHedge.
