Business

More love for Dov

Dov Charney has dodged the bankruptcy bullet — again.

The controversial CEO of American Apparel — who has been scrambling to maintain control over the cash-strapped retailer even as he battles a string of lurid sex-harassment suits — has secured rescue financing that will inject as much as $43 million into the troubled clothing retailer during the coming months.

In a deal approved after several days of tense board negotiations, a coterie of Canadian investors has agreed to inject $15 million into American Apparel up front, with the option of investing as much as $28 million in additional cash during the next six months.

“Dov is an eccentric, and he’s being butchered by investors and the press,” said Roy Sebag of Essentia Equity, one of several lenders in the rescue package, which was led by Michael Serruya, a deep-pocketed Canadian financier who led a bailout of Jamba Juice in 2009.

Indeed, the Canadian investors believe it was a 2009 immigration crackdown at American Apparel’s Los Angeles factory that is largely to blame for its crippled finances, sources said.

Some lenders to the debt-ridden retailer had lately expressed doubts whether Charney should keep control of the company. Two years ago, American Apparel was saved from possible bankruptcy by a loan of more than $80 million from British-based Lion Capital.

Nevertheless, Charney himself appears upbeat about American Apparel’s prospects, as he’s plowing $700,000 of his “last savings” into the deal, bringing the initial cash injection to $15.7 million, according to one source.

Charney could also profit if the company’s stock performs well. While other shareholders will be diluted by the deal, Charney can reverse the dilution for himself if the company’s stock mounts a steady climb during the next four years.

The deal took several days to be approved by the company’s board, with at least one director arguing that Chapter 11 might be a better option for preserving the company’s assets, sources said.

The Canadian investors will be able to exchange their cash and warrants for shares priced at 90 cents — a discount of more than 27 percent to yesterday’s closing price of $1.24. If they exercise all their warrants as expected, the group would own nearly one-third of the company’s total outstanding shares.

To ease concerns of Bank of America, which provides American Apparel’s credit line, the company will carry an additional $5 million in available cash on its balance sheet, on top of the current requirement of $7.5 million.

In exchange, the bank waived a debt covenant that would have been breached at the end of the month.

American Apparel is expected to appoint an executive from FTI Consulting to “keep a close eye on the cash balance” at the insistence of Bank of America, according to a source. james.covert@nypost.com