Billionaire investor George Soros has once again upped the ante at struggling discount designer clothing retailer Bluefly, this time adding another $2 million in capital and eliminating some debt.
Manhattan-based Bluefly , whose stock price has again dipped below the NASDAQ-required $1 a share mark, was taken over by Soros Private Equity Partners in 2000 and at the time the headline on the story included the word “rescue.”
Bluefly got another $4 million from Soros a year ago and in fact the investor has been steadily bailing the company out whenever it hits a tight spot.
Now, in addition to the new capital and the elimination of $3 million in debt, Bluefly said it obtained “a standby commitment from affiliates of Soros Private Equity Partners to provide the company with an additional $1 million.”
The new investment brings the Soros stake in Bluefly up to 89.7 percent. All told, Soros has invested about $50 million in Bluefly.
Although Bluefly reported net sales for 2002 increased 33 percent to $30.6 million, its operating loss for the year was $6.2 million, down from $11.8 million in 2001.