Boutique investment bank Ledgemont seeks Chapter 7 bankruptcy

Ledgemont Capital Group LLC, a boutique investment bank, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy to liquidate its assets, which it estimated at between $10 million and $50 million, according to court documents.

New York-based Ledgemont was a joint underwriter, along with Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital, of a scuttled, $460 million initial public offering by FriendFinder Networks Inc that was originally planned for 2008.

FriendFinder Networks, which publishes the adult magazine Penthouse, eventually went public in 2011 after it named Imperial Capital and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co as its underwriters.

Ledgemont was founded by Keith Barksdale, who had been with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, and Edward Neugeboren, formerly of Lehman Brothers, according to the firm's website.

Ledgemont also employed Kerry Kittles, a former college basketball star at Villanova University who played several years with the New Jersey Nets and Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association.

In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a trustee is appointed to oversee the sale of a company's assets to raise money to repay creditors.

Ledgemont said it had between $1 million and $10 million of liabilities, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday.

The case is Ledgemont Capital Group LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 13-11196

(Reporting By Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; editing by Jim Marshall)