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4 Mar 2008

Hedge Fund Aramid Launches Into TV and Digital Entertainment

Hedge fund Aramid Entertainment is looking to raise a further $200 million to fund their diversification into television and other digital financing projects.

Simon Fawcett, chief executive of Aramid Capital Partners, said, "We have proved our ability to generate uncorrelated returns through the application of an asset-backed lending strategy to entertainment and digital content finance,... we are confident that the Aramid Entertainment Fund will continue to offer investors the opportunity to access genuine alpha returns outside the traditional markets in a low beta sector."

Aramid, a hedge fund specializing in the provision of mainly motion picture entertainment finance, has already invested $210 million and earned in excess of 20% in 2007. It provided financing to 20 independent film projects, invested in two studio finance deals in the United States, as well as in a live national U.S. theater portfolio.

The fund has sought steady risk-adjusted and non-correlating returns through providing financing solutions for producers, including tax credits and bridge and mezzanine financing to underwrite short- and medium-term liquidity on a low to medium risk level to producers and distributors of film, television and other entertainment.

Some of the projects Aramid is involved in are: "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" based on the memoir of a struggling British writer trying to fit in at Vanity Fair magazine in New York. The film, which stars Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst and Jeff Bridges, is due for release in October. Other films to which Aramid has given financial backing include "Good," "The Secret of Moonacre," "Choke" and "Black Water Transit."

The Aramid Entertainment Fund is an open-ended investment company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Aramid Capital charges a 2% annual management fee to institutional investors and a 3% fee to high-net-worth investors. The performance fee for institutions is 20% and either 25% or 30% for private investors. The fund administrator is Maples Finance and the minimum investment is $50,000.

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