Dissident owns
5.7% of Hawaiian
Hedge fund firm Triage Management LLC, which is part of a group seeking to create a new voice for minority shareholders in the Hawaiian Airlines bankruptcy case, reported yesterday that it owns 5.7 percent of the airline's parent company.
Leonid Frenkel, managing member of Triage Management, said the Bala Cynwyd, Penn.-based company had more than 1.6 million Hawaiian Holdings Inc. shares as of March 23 with a net cost of $5.2 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Triage, hedge fund Lonestar Partners LP and Norman J. Caris of investment banking firm Caris & Co. have filed a motion in Hawaiian's bankruptcy case to form a new minority equity committee. San Francisco-based Lonestar disclosed in a February filing that it owned 4.2 percent of Hawaiian, while Caris said last month his firm controls about 7 percent for its shareholders.
A hearing on the motion is set for April 19.
The U.S. Trustee's Office is among several parties opposing the motion. The trustee argues that the three investment groups hold shares of the parent company, which is not in bankruptcy; the shareholders' interests already are being adequately represented by Hawaiian Holdings; and the formation of a minority committee would increase costs for the airline during bankruptcy.
In another development, Hawaiian Airlines spokesman Keoni Wagner said the carrier has received final approval from Australia to launch nonstop service from Sydney beginning May 18. Hawaiian has received all the regulatory approvals it needs to proceed.