Just how much Curzon Global Partners has done to turn around the struggling SinnLeffer clothing chain will probably remain a mystery.
But the fact is that the fund manager made a killing on its sale of the 16 clothing stores and 34 Praktiker DIY stores that it bought less than two years ago for a total of €680m. Curzon then sold the whole lot this year for around €957m to Active Asset Investment Management (AAIM).
As the name suggests, the buyer will probably work on the assets.
The deal closed in early August, just before the credit squeeze hit the market. AAIM was financed by CreditSuisse, which, unsurprisingly, is not quite as hungry to write large loans any more.
