Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
Bloomberg – Raj Rajaratnam, the founder of Galleon Group, planned to gauge interest in a $200 million Sri Lanka fund with a trip to London before he was arrested, said two people with knowledge of the matter.
The Sri Lankan-born billionaire had planned to raise money for the fund by listing it on London’s Alternative Investment Market, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Dan Gagnier, a New York- based spokesman for Galleon, couldn’t be reached for comment after business hours.
Reuters – Opportunistic property investment firm NewRiver Retail said on Monday it would list in September with a capitalisation of 25 million pounds, two months after suspending a planned 250 million pounds float.
NewRiver expects its shares to be admitted to London’s Alternative Investment Market on September 1, it said in a statement. The shares would also be admitted to the Channel Islands Stock Exchange.
Reuters India – KSK Emerging India Energy Fund had raised £100 million from AIM last year to invest in Indian energy companies.
Global recession has claimed a victim in India. KSK Emerging India Energy Fund (KEF), a £100 million fund listed in London’s Alternative Investment Market, has been wound up after the shareholders passed a resolution last week demanding the same.
The shareholders – which include large hedge funds – passed a resolution on January 22 asking for the liquidation of the company and the return of funds invested by them. The delisting of the company and liquidation has come into effect from January 23. The EGM was held in Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands.
Wall Street Journal – Harbinger Capital Partners and Firebrand Investments LLC, the hedge funds that put two representatives on the board of the New York Times Co. this past spring, are again adding to their stake in the media company.
Through share purchases and a series of equity swaps, Harbinger Capital Partners and Firebrand Investments added economic exposure to 1.9 million Times shares in August, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Harbinger and Firebrand increased their Class A stake in the Times to nearly 20% this spring, and shortly after gaining board representation, the funds stopped buying shares. After four months of silence, however, Harbinger disclosed that it is again adding to its stake, mostly through equity swaps.
By entering into the swaps with an unnamed counterparty, Harbinger and Firebrand effectively gained economic exposure to an additional 1.7 million Class A shares. The funds also bought 200,000 shares outright for $13 a share.
