RETAIL
Calif. apparel firm buys Karmaloop
A California footwear and apparel company has confirmed it purchased online retailer Karmaloop LLC, less than a year after the once-promising maker of street clothes emerged from bankruptcy protection. The two investment companies that bought Karmaloop out of bankruptcy in May 2015 for $13 million, Comvest Capital of West Palm Beach, Fla., and CapX Partners, of Chicago, sold the maker of hip street clothes to Shiekh Shoes (a store opening at right). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. “There is a tremendous opportunity to retell the Karmaloop story and grow the brand,’’ Shiekh Shoes president Matt Fine said in a statement. “We see additional opportunities to leverage the Karmaloop assets to grow our existing businesses in both the brick and mortar and e-commerce channels.’’ Shiekh (pronounced chic) Shoes, through a public relations firm, declined to comment further. The privately owned company was started by Shiekh Ellahi in 1991. Based in Ontario, Calif., it has 136 stores in 10 states, primarily on the West Coast, and online at shiekhshoes.com. — KATHELEEN CONTI
BIOTECH
Sage shares drop after hedge fund’s short
Sage Therapeutics Inc. saw its shares drop 13 percent Wednesday after New York hedge fund Kerrisdale Capital disclosed it had taken a short position in the Cambridge biotech company. Kerrisdale did not specify how much it had bet against Sage’s stock. But the firm released a report casting doubt on the effectiveness of, and potential market for, Sage’s experimental drug, which treats a rare condition known as super-refractory status epilepticus. Sage criticized Kerrisdale’s “selective data interpretations,’’ calling its analysis false and misleading. — ROBERT WEISMAN
MARKETS
Convicted trader in Libor scandal must pay $1.2m
A judge on Wednesday ordered Tom Hayes (left), a former UBS and Citigroup trader, to forfeit more than 878,000 pounds, or about $1.2 million, in bonuses because of his conviction last year of manipulating a global benchmark interest rate known as Libor. Hayes, who is serving an 11-year prison sentence, was the first person to go to trial in Britain and be convicted on criminal charges related to the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor. The ensuing scandal has led to billions of dollars in fines and has rocked the reputations of some of the world’s biggest banks, including Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, and Deutsche Bank. “The court acknowledged the challenges of quantifying the benefit from crime in this case,’’ Mark Thompson, the head of the Serious Fraud Office’s Proceeds of Crime Division, said in a news release. “The outcome is a substantial confiscation order, which Mr. Hayes will need to satisfy or face a further period of imprisonment.’’ — NEW YORK TIMES
FANTASY SPORTS
Maryland Voters may decide if games are legal
Maryland would become the first state to let voters decide whether the popular but controversial phenomenon of fantasy sports betting is fully legal, under bills now pending in the Legislature. State senators voted unanimously Wednesday for two bills. They now go to the House. One measure would ask voters to decide in November whether to allow commercial daily fantasy sports betting. The second would define daily fantasy sports betting as illegal, except in small social groups, unless voters say otherwise. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
RETAIL
Amazon sues former executive, alleging violation of noncompete deal
Amazon.com is suing its onetime logistics chief a month after he was hired by Target, saying he violated a non-compete clause that prohibits him from joining a rival for at least 18 months. The suit, filed by Amazon this week in King County Superior Court in Washington, claims that Arthur Valdez, hired as Target’s chief supply chain and logistics officer, shared trade secrets during the interview process. Amazon says Valdez would be required to disclose and use Amazon’s confidential information in his position at Target. Valdez is expected to start his new job next week. Target said Wednesday that the suit is without merit. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
RETAIL
Coffee Company hires a new CEO
Vermont coffee king Keurig Green Mountain Inc. said Wednesday that it has named a new chief executive, just three months after being acquired by a European investment firm. The maker of single-serve coffee brewers and pods said that Robert J. “Bob’’ Gamgort will become the company’s new leader May 2. Gamgort is a longtime food industry executive and has since 2009 been the chief executive of New Jersey-based Pinnacle Foods Inc., known for households brands such as Birds Eye, Duncan Hines, and Wish-Bone. Brian Kelley, the current Keurig chief executive, who has been with the company since December 2012, will become vice chairman of the Keurig board of directors. Keurig declined to comment further on the leadership change. — DEIRDRE FERNANDES
MARKETS
Extradition ordered in ‘Flash Crash’ case
A judge has ruled that a British financial trader suspected of playing a role in the so-called 2010 ‘‘Flash Crash’’ in stock markets can be extradited to the United States. District Judge Quentin Purdy said Wednesday that 37-year-old Navinder Singh Sarao can face trial in the United States on charges that he helped trigger the crash, which saw US stock values plunge and rebound within minutes. Sarao faces 22 charges in the United States for his suspected role in the crash, which saw tens of billions of dollars lost in just five minutes. US officials say he made $875,000 on that day. His lawyers say he plans to appeal the Westminster Magistrates’ Court decision. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
DEVELOPMENT
New name pondered for the BRA
Sometimes, a good name is just too bad to be saved. And that may be the case for the Boston Redevelopment Authority. As part of a new effort to rebrand the oft-maligned city development agency, its leaders are apparently considering dropping the name Boston Redevelopment Authority altogether for something with a little bit less baggage. It lists the idea among its top priorities in a request for proposals it issued this week for consultants to help with the rebranding. “What is the best approach to exploring a new name for the BRA that better reflects its role and core functions,’’ according to the request for proposals. “What impacts would a new name have on the BRA’s affiliated organizations and programs?’’ At this point no decisions have been made. And it remains to be seen whether an agency as ubiquitous in Boston real estate as the BRA could ever really be called anything but the BRA. — TIM LOGAN
