Trouble

Australian clothing and footwear company Colorado Group has surrendered control of the business to lenders, Reuters said. It is the second private equity-owned retail chain in Australia to do so in the last two months, Reuters said. The company owes roughly A$400 million ($411.5 million) to lenders including Mizuho Corporate Bank, National Australia Bank and several hedge funds. Colorado was acquired by Affinity Equity Partners in 2006 for A$430 million.

The SEC has charged Mark Duffell, a former consultant at Accel-KKR, with insider trading. The regulator claims Duffell was involved in discussions involving Accel-KKR’s pending buy of SumTotal Systems in March 2009 when he allegedly began amassing shares in the company in his personal trading account, according to a release. Duffell has agreed to settle the charges against him and pay disgorgement and penalties of more than $300,000, the SEC said.