Business

No taking stock

Still bruised from his fight with the Securities and Exchange Commission, hedge- fund billionaire Phil Falcone faces a new battle — this time over the crown jewel of his troubled empire.

Disgruntled investors of Falcone’s hedge fund, Harbinger Capital, are eyeing his successful publicly traded entity, Harbinger Group, as a potential gold mine, The Post has learned.

Harbinger, a holding company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange, owns a portfolio of companies, including Spectrum Brands, the maker of Rayovac batteries, and lingerie retailer Frederick’s of Hollywood.

The Harbinger hedge fund and Falcone collectively control about 70 percent of Harbinger Group’s stock.

The upset fund investors, in the wake of Falcone’s settlement with the SEC — which calls for the fund to meet redemptions — are unlikely to be satisfied with Harbinger Group stock.

The shares of Falcone’s publicly traded entity are undervalued and will shortchange them, some investors said.

Instead, the hedge-fund investors are eyeing the holding company’s assets, which they estimate are worth a lot more than the company’s $1.3 billion market cap.

The investors plan to press Falcone to sell off Harbinger Group’s assets, believing they will fetch more at auction than the price of the sagging stock.

If they don’t get their way, they could sue, according to one source.

Harbinger Group investors agree that the stock is cheap. The shares rose 2.6 percent yesterday to close at $9.17.

“We think the company is worth … more than where it is trading,” said one investor, adding that the annuity business alone is worth more than $1 billion. “It should be trading around $12 per share.”

With his hedge fund on the rocks, Falcone is focused on growing the publicly traded Harbinger Group and is likely to resist breaking it up and selling off pieces.

A spokesman for Harbinger Capital declined to comment. But a source close to the firm said executives plan to address the hedge fund’s investment in Harbinger Group soon.

Harbinger Capital “will continue to explore all options with the objective of maximizing value for those investors that redeemed as well as those that want to remain as investors,” one hedge official told The Post.

Falcone and Harbinger Capital agreed to pay $18 million to settle accusations that he put his “lavish lifestyle” ahead of investors, including taking out a $113 million personal loan to pay taxes.