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UPDATE 1-Burkle cuts stake in troubled American Apparel

* Owns 4.3 percent as of Jan. 20

* Owned 6 percent in June last year

Jan 26 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Ron Burkle cut his stake in troubled hipster brand American Apparel APP.A.

Burkle held 4.3 percent of the company as of Jan. 20, from the 6 percent he held on June 14, according to a filing late Tuesday.

American Apparel, popular with urban hipsters for its “Made-in-USA” clothes, has been under fire on a lot of issues, ranging from possible covenant breaches and charges from its accountant that it withheld important information, to immigration probes of its workers and a long-running sales slump.

Founder and Chief Executive Dov Charney is its largest shareholder.

Shares of the Los Angeles-based company closed at $1.16 on Tuesday on the on the American Stock Exchange. They have lost almost 40 percent of their value since November, when the company said it expects a loss from operations in 2010. (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair)

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