Despite a later rule prohibiting private equity firms from borrowing through PPP, they do so-
Alternative investment firms are having a difficult time, to put it mildly. (They’re not particularly tough in other ways, but that’s beside the point.) Launches are at an all-time low. Liquidations are on the rise, with notable names including Lansdowne Partners’ produced Markets Fund, Sloane Robinson, as well as Rothschild & Co. participating. As a result, some may claim that they could use a bailout like other hard-hit businesses such as retailers, restaurants, real estate, and travel. Unfortunately, they were not qualified for the delicious PPP action due to that reasoning.
According to the SBA, BlackGold Capital Management LP, a Houston credit fund, received a loan of $150,000 to $350,000. KKR and Co, a private equity firm, owns a portion of BlackGold. According to the data, Marcato Capital Management LP, the activist fund whose originator was a Bill Ackman protégé, received a loan of between $150,000 and $350,000… . Highland Capital Management Fund Advisors, a Dallas based mutual fund supervisor, as well as Exchange, Traded Managers Group LLC, New Jersey-based exchange-traded stock issuer, were among the other financial businesses that used the lending scheme. According to FactSet, the latter runs a cannabis-themed ETF with $569 million in assets.
According to a review of data given by the SBA on Monday, at least ten private investment businesses used the program, obtaining loans ranging from $150,000 to $1 million… Story3 Capital Partners LLC, a Los Angeles-based investment and advisory firm; BlueKey Equity Partners, a Florida-based private equity firm; and 3P Equity Partners, a San Jose, Calif.-based personal equity business with $158.5 million under management, are among them. It’s unclear when or whether these loans were made or if they were returned. According to the SBA, the data are given only includes “active” loans, not loans that were terminated for whatever reason.
Mr. Peter Comisar confirmed Story3 got PPP funding in an emailed statement but said the firm’s revenue to date had come from mergers and acquisitions advice rather than private equity. He explained, “All of our business, revenues to date, and personnel are related to our broker/dealer M&A advice business, which has sadly been crushed post-Covid.”
Well, that’s good news. And, if he gets around to offering it, I’m sure there’ll be a good reason why the founder of this exceptional former hedge fund got his hands on a PPP loan.
According to data uploaded online, Gottlieb, whose Visium Asset Management resolved a regulatory probe two years back, obtained a $150,000 to $350,000 loan under the Paycheck Protection Program for his current firm, Altium Capital Management. It’s unclear if the firm has any external clients.
Of course, given the shoddy manner in which the schedule has been run and a haphazard kind of the rule development barring the “primarily involved in investment” from the federal trough, it’s unlikely to know whether each of the above is in violation of the rule, or whether the government is even enforceable. They could’ve saved themselves a lot of shame if they had just gone cap in hand to Louis Bacon, who doesn’t require any help at all.