The Goldman Sachs Petershill Fund buys minority stakes in hedge funds, which are lightly regulated partnerships that buy and sell all types of securities using strategies that may include short-selling and a high degree of leverage. Mount Lucas is the third and smallest U.S. firm in which Petershill invested during 2010.
In January 2010, Petershill bought an 8 percent stake in Shumway Capital Partners L.L.C., a Connecticut hedge fund that was managing $8 billion at the time. In April, it bought into Level Global Investors L.P., a New York firm that had $4 billion under management as of last spring.
In a statement, Mount Lucas said a "substantial portion" of the proceeds from the Petershill investment will be reinvested in its three hedge funds, including MLM Macro-Peak, which trades stocks, bonds, currencies, and commodities in the markets of the Group of Seven nations.
In an unrelated move, Paul DeRosa, a firm principal involved in the day-to-day management of the MLM Macropeak, will become chairman as of Dec. 31. DeRosa assumes a position that has been vacant since the death of Frank Vannerson, another founder, in March 2008.
Robert J. Barbera, who'd joined Mount Lucas in June as its chief economist from Investment Technology Group, will take on DeRosa's role in the management of the MLM MacroPeak portfolio.
According to its website, Mount Lucas has 25 employees, including six principals.
Debt, be gone
Just before Christmas, C&D Technologies Inc. completed a financial restructuring that cut its debt from $175 million to $50 million.
