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Munster Times - Investigators may get a clue Wednesday into how much money might be available for victims in the Bernard Madoff scandal.
The fallen investment guru is scheduled to submit a list of his personal assets to the Securities and Exchange Commission by the end of the year, including property that could be tapped to make restitution to victims of what authorities say was a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
In a previous court hearing, Madoff also agreed to provide the names and locations of entities, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, investments or assets held by his business, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) - Private-equity firm CVC Asia Pacific, who owns 75 percent of PBL Media, is trying to prevent the company from defaulting on its $4.3 billion in debt, according to the Asian Wall Street Journal.
PBL Media, the owner of massive Australian magazine group ACP and Australia’s Channel Nine, could be placed under the control of its bankers if they default on the debt; something CVC is frantically trying to stop.
According to an article in The Australian, PBL’s debt is distributed among almost 40 creditors, including many hedge funds and global banks. CVC is trying to formulate a rescue package that would include raising $325 million from its banks, $250 million of which would go directly to paying PBL Media’s debt.
The Asian Wall Street Journal also reported that several of the large banks might also be on board to stop the default "which could result in their having to take a charge against earnings for the bad loans.” These banks include UBS, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Calyon, ABN AMRO and several other Australian banks.
However, some of the hedge funds who are invested in PBL aren’t too thrilled about CVC’s rescue plan, which entails creditors granting PBL a “covenant holiday” of 18 months. The Journal stated that “because hedge funds are required to mark their investments to market every day, the funds have little to gain from the CVC plan.”
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
Fortis has closed three small hedge funds in the aftermath of its acquisition of part of ABN Amro and merger of the Belgian and Dutch banks’ asset management operations, according to a report in the Financial Times.
The Fortis European long/short fund, which had €120m ($167m) under administration, was shut after the decision to rope in the ABN European equity team, led by Andrew King.
The convertible arbitrage fund was shut in order to free up staff to focus on the enlarged long-only convertible bond funds. The final fund, a US long/short fund, was shut at the end of last year, the FT report said.
Forbes - U.S. activist hedge fund Atticus Capital has lost more than $5 billion this year, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, after its funds were hit by heavy falls in financial stocks. Atticus, a high-profile player in deals such as Barclays‘ unsuccessful bid for ABN Amro last year, saw total assets under management fall to around $14 billion at end-July from more than $20 billion last year, the source said.
The losses were mainly due to a 32.9 percent loss in the $7 billion Atticus European fund from the start of the year to the end of August and a 25 percent fall in the Atticus Global fund.
The firm, which employs a variety of investor lock-ups, saw few investor redemptions. Atticus declined to comment. The firm, which views itself as a long-term investor, has nevertheless delivered strong performance in recent years.
In 2006 founder Tim Barakett earned $675 million, according to hedge fund industry publication Alpha Magazine.
Bloomberg- Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc has been sued by London-based hedge fund Merebis Capital Management LLP for reversing a 250 million-euro ($395 million) investment in Merebis by ABN Amro shortly after RBS acquired the Dutch bank, the Financial Times reported.
Merebis claims in a case filed in London’s High Court that it is owed a penalty fee of 17.8 million pounds ($35 million) for the early withdrawal by ABN, which was repaid most of its investment this month, leading to the closing of the hedge fund, the newspaper said.
Reuters - Belgian-Dutch financial services group Fortis said on Wednesday it had sold former ABN AMRO unit International Asset Management IAM.L as part of a strategy to bolster its balance sheet.
Fortis said in a statement it had sold London-based fund-of-hedge-funds manager IAM to its management, supported by certain third party investors.
The deal would not have a material impact on Fortis’ net profit per share but would give some solvency relief, it said.
Fortis two weeks ago announced a programme to shore up its finances by 8.3 billion euros (6.6 billion pounds), partly by selling assets, after buying parts of former rival ABN AMRO.
CNBC- Fortis NV. said it has sold its London-based hedge fund manager International Asset Management (IAM) to its management team, supported by third party investors, for an undisclosed sum.
The Belgian-Dutch bancassurer said the transaction will boost its solvency ratios, without specifying further, but will have no material impact on EPS.
The company was not immediately available for further comment.
IAM is one of the former units of ABN Amro Asset Management acquired by Fortis in the consortium takeover launched with RBS and Santander for the Dutch bank in 2007. On March 31, it had $4.3 billion of assets under management.