John Paulson fund rescues Berry-Hill Galleries

30 June 2011

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photo: flickr user apoorv_tomar

A fund controlled by finance titan John Paulson has come to the aid of a struggling Manhattan art gallery.

The Paulson & Co. fund has purchased a loan to American-art specialist Berry-Hill Galleries for about $10 million, as well as the mortgage on the gallery's property in an elegant Upper East Side townhouse, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Berry-Hill defaulted last year on a debt to an entity now known as American Capital Ltd. according to public records. Newspaper photographers snapped images of paintings and sculptures being seized as collateral from the gallery on East 70th Street in April 2010.

According to the gallery's attorney, all the artwork has now been returned. The Paulson fund's acquisition of Berry-Hill's debt and mortgage ended the lawsuit and foreclosure proceedings against the gallery.

The reason for Paulson's interest in the gallery is unclear.

Read more at Wall Street Journal

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