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To: stomper who wrote (364134)	3/31/2008 7:23:55 PM
From: Giordano Bruno	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 436258

Hats off to Pardus, went bust with no leverage a tall Activist Hedge Fund Pardus Halting Investor Redemptions By JOSEPH CHECKLER March 31, 2008 5:31 p.m. NEW YORK -- New York-based activist hedge fund Pardus Capital Management said it's halting investor redemptions, at a time where many of its holdings are plummeting in value. Pardus, which manages more than $2 billion, is currently seeking changes at several companies whose stocks it holds, most notably Delta Air Lines Inc. and UAL Corp., the parent company of United Airlines. Pardus has for months been trying to get the two airlines to merge, and both investments have been significant losers. Pardus, which does not use leverage, is down 40% from its high-water mark in early 2007, said a person with knowledge of the fund's performance. "The actions we have taken will allow us to protect the funds and their investors from the external short-term pressure of the broader financial markets and focus on realizing value on our portfolio companies for investors over an extended period of time," Pardus said in a statement. The firm is run by Karim Samii. A person close to Pardus, which holds large positions in the 10 or so companies it invests in, said that while the fund will not be making any new investments from its current funds, it would not immediately be selling out of everything, either. "For the portfolio companies themselves, this is good news because it reduces any market anxiety that we might have to sell shares as we will be able to maintain our investment horizons on our core positions and complete our strategies," Pardus said in the statement. "They don't want to be forced to have to bail out," the person close to Pardus said. An investment in French car parts maker Valeo SA has been particularly painful for Pardus. Through its Pardus Europe Special Opportunities Master Fund LP, Pardus owns 12 million shares -- or more than $450 million worth -- of Valeo, making it Pardus" top holding. Valeo, which has lost more than 40% of its value over the past year, takes up almost a quarter of Pardus' portfolio. Valeo on Monday denied it was in talks to allow Indian company Hinduja Group to take a controlling stake in the company. The person close to Pardus said that over the next two years, the hedge fund would slowly sell some of its positions to satisfy investor redemptions. Some of that selling has started already: Pardus late last week sold more than 10 million shares of London-based travel company Thomas Cook Group PLC, which was created last year via the merger of Thomas Cook AG and MyTravel Group PLC. Pardus still holds more than 34.9 million shares of Thomas Cook, but that's down from 57.3 million shares as recently as January. During the fourth quarter, Pardus sold all 12 million of its shares in another holding, struggling Ford Motor Co. (F). Other holdings in Pardus' concentrated portfolio include General Motors Corp. and Virgin Media Inc.