In a battle of the press releases, San Francisco-based Clarium Capital Management has issued a statement calling claims by Amisil Holdings “meritless” and indicating it will file “appropriate counterclaims” against what the firm refers to as a “a now apparently defunct asset manager domiciled in Cyprus.” What makes the release particularly interesting are the wildly different tales the two players are telling. Amisil claims it entrusted Clarium with $18 million, but the HF release suggests that Amisil had invested “$300,000 for a short period in 1998-1999” and that the firm feels that “somehow entitles it to a 1% stake in Clarium and a share in the 2002 IPO of Pay Pal.” Further, while Amisil claims Clarium has been defrauding it for seven years, the hedge fund says “the claims come seven years after that firm by its own admission, ceased to invest with Clarium.” One begins to wonder if we’re talking about the same suit here. According to Clarium general counsel Bruce Gibney, Amisil, which is seeking damages three times larger than Clarium’s alleged Pay Pal IPO profits, “is facially defective” – and comes a day after the two sides apparently agreed to negotiate a settlement. The complaint, according to Clarium, “suggests that Amisil believes it must try its case by making misleading statements in the court of public opinion, rather than in a court of law, where Amisil knows its claims will be rejected.” You just know Amisil has another press release in the works.
