Hedge fund Atticus denies liquidation rumors: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund company Atticus Capital denied market rumors it was liquidating its positions and closing down and said it had a large net capital position and was looking for investment opportunities, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Atticus's two main hedge funds have been hit with losses of between 25 percent and 32 percent this year through August, but investors are largely sticking with it, according to unnamed investors cited by the Journal.

Stocks the Wall Street Journal said Atticus held in recent months, including Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp BNI.N, Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N) and MasterCard Inc (MA.N), fell 3.7 percent, 6 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively, amid a broad market sell-off.

Atticus officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Investors have sought redemptions for the end of September for less than 10 percent of Atticus' capital, Tim Barakett, its founder, told the Journal, adding its flagship fund had seen redemptions accounting for just 3 percent of its capital.

Hedge fund manager Ospraie Management LLC earlier this week said it planned to close its flagship fund after it plunged 27 percent in August and some investors are betting more hedge fund closures could be on the horizon.

Unlike many hedge funds, Atticus does not use a lot of borrowed capital to boost its returns, which would mean it will not face the pressure from lenders that have hurt some other funds, the Journal said.

(Reporting by Christian Plumb; Editing by Andre Grenon)