Filing Details

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 13G
Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(Amendment No. )*
GENERAL FINANCE CORPORATION
(Name of Issuer)
Common Stock
(Title of Class of Securities)
369822101
(CUSIP Number)
Copies to: David A. Sirignano Sean M. Donahue Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004
January 13, 2017
(Date of Event Which Requires Filing of this Statement)
Check the appropriate box to designate the rule pursuant to which this Schedule is filed:
o	Rule 13d-1(b)
x	Rule 13d-1(c)
o	Rule 13d-1(d)
*The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person’s initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter the disclosures provided in a prior cover page. The information required in the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be “filed” for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).

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1.	Names Of Reporting Persons I.R.S. Identification No. Of Above Persons (Entities Only)   Gagnon Securities LLC
2.	check the appropriate box if a group				(a) o (b) x
3.	sec use only
4.	citizenship or place of organization   DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
number of shares beneficially owned by each reporting person with:		5.	sole voting power			0
		6.	shared voting power			2,385,345
		7.	sole dispositive power			0
		8.	shared dispositive power			2,554,928
9.	aggregate amount beneficially owned by each reporting person					2,554,298
10.	check box if the aggregate amount in row (9) excludes certain shares (See Instructions)					o
11.	percent of class represented by amount in row (9)					9.7%
12.	type of reporting person (See Instructions)					IA, BD

 

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1.	Names Of Reporting Persons I.R.S. Identification No. Of Above Persons (Entities Only)   Gagnon Advisors, LLC
2.	check the appropriate box if a group				(a) o (b) x
3.	sec use only
4.	citizenship or place of organization   DELAWARE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
number of shares beneficially owned by each reporting person with:		5.	sole voting power			0
		6.	shared voting power			1,864,280
		7.	sole dispositive power			0
		8.	shared dispositive power			1,864,280
9.	aggregate amount beneficially owned by each reporting person					1,864,280
10.	check box if the aggregate amount in row (9) excludes certain shares (See Instructions)					o
11.	percent of class represented by amount in row (9)					7.1%
12.	type of reporting person (See Instructions)					IA, BD

 

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13.	Names Of Reporting Persons I.R.S. Identification No. Of Above Persons (Entities Only)   Neil Gagnon
14.	check the appropriate box if a group				(a) o (b) x
15.	sec use only
16.	citizenship or place of organization   USA
number of shares beneficially owned by each reporting person with:		17.	sole voting power			539,462
		18.	shared voting power			4,501,367
		19.	sole dispositive power			539,462
		20.	shared dispositive power			4,689,459
21.	aggregate amount beneficially owned by each reporting person					5,228,921
22.	check box if the aggregate amount in row (9) excludes certain shares (See Instructions)					o
23.	percent of class represented by amount in row (9)					19.9%
24.	type of reporting person (See Instructions)					IN

 

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Item 1.
(a)	Name of Issuer:	General Finance Corporation
(b)	Address of Issuer’s Principal Executive Offices:	39 East Union Street Pasadena, CA 91103
Item 2.
(a)	Name of Person Filing:	Neil Gagnon has sole voting and dispositive power over 539,462 shares of the Issuer’s Common Stock.  In addition, Mr. Gagnon has shared voting power over 4,501,367 shares of the Issuer’s Common Stock and shared dispositive power over 4,689,459 shares of the Issuer’s Common Stock.
		Mr. Gagnon is the managing member and principal owner of Gagnon Securities LLC (“GS”). GS is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”), and a registered broker-dealer, in its role as investment manager to several customer accounts, foundations, partnerships and trusts (collectively, the“Accounts”) to which it furnishes investment advice. Mr. Gagnon and GS may be deemed to share voting power with respect to 2,385,345 shares of Common Stock held in the Accounts and dispositive power with respect to 2,554,928 shares of Common Stock held in the Accounts. GS and Mr. Gagnon expressly disclaim beneficial ownership of all securities held in the Accounts.
		Mr. Gagnon is also the Chief Executive Officer of Gagnon Advisors, LLC (“Gagnon Advisors”), an investment adviser registered with the SEC under the Advisers Act. Mr. Gagnon and Gagnon Advisors, in its role as investment manager to Gagnon Investment Associates, LLC (“GIA”), a private investment fund, may be deemed to share voting and dispositive power with respect to the 1,864,280 shares of the Issuer’s Common Stock held by GIA.  GS and Mr. Gagnon expressly disclaim beneficial ownership of all securities held by GIA.
(b)	Address of Principal Business Office: or, if none, Residence	1370 Avenue of the Americas, 24th Floor New York, NY 10019
(c)	Citizenship:	Gagnon Securities LLC	Delaware limited liability Company
		Gagnon Advisors, LLC	Delaware limited liability Company
		Neil Gagnon	USA
(d)	Title of Class of Securities:	Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share
(e)	CUSIP Number:	369822101

 

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Item 3.

If this statement is filed pursuant to §§240.13d-1(b) or 13d-2(b) or (c), check whether the person filing is a:

(a)	o	Broker or dealer registered under section 15 of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78o).
(b)	o	Bank as defined in section 3(a)(6) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78c).
(c)	o	Insurance company as defined in section 3(a)(19) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78c).
(d)	o	Investment company registered under section 8 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C 80a-8).
(e)	o	An investment adviser in accordance with §240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(E);
(f)	o	An employee benefit plan or endowment fund in accordance with §240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(F);
(g)	o	A parent holding company or control person in accordance with § 13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(G);
(h)	o	A savings associations as defined in Section 3(b) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813);
(i)	o	A church plan that is excluded from the definition of an investment company under section 3(c)(14) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15U.S.C. 80a-3);
(j)	o	Group, in accordance with §240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(J).

 

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Item 4.

Ownership.

Provide the following information regarding the aggregate number and percentage of the class of securities of the issuer identified in Item 1.

	(a)	Amount beneficially owned:		Gagnon Securities LLC	2,554,928
				Gagnon Advisors, LLC	1,864,280
				Neil Gagnon	539,462
	(b)	Percent of class:		Gagnon Securities LLC	9.72%
				Gagnon Advisors, LLC	7.09%
				Neil Gagnon	19.89%
				Calculation of percentage of beneficial ownership is based on 26,288,108 outstanding shares of the Issuer’s Common Stock as reported by the Issuer on its Form 10-Q filed on November 8, 2016.

 

	(c)	Number of shares as to which the person has:
		(i)	Sole power to vote or to direct the vote:	Gagnon Securities LLC	0
				Gagnon Advisors, LLC	0
				Neil Gagnon	539,462
		(ii)	Shared power to vote or to direct the vote:	Gagnon Securities LLC	2,385,345
				Gagnon Advisors, LLC	1,864,280
				Neil Gagnon	4,501,367
		(iii)	Sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition of:	Gagnon Securities LLC	0
				Gagnon Advisors, LLC	0
				Neil Gagnon	539,462
		(iv)	Shared power to dispose or to direct the disposition of:	Gagnon Securities LLC	2,554,928
				Gagnon Advisors, LLC	1,864,280
				Neil Gagnon	4,689,459

 

Item 5

Ownership of Five Percent or Less of a Class

If this statement is being filed to report the fact that as of the date hereof the reporting person has ceased to be the beneficial owner of more than five percent of the class of securities, check the following o.

Item 6

Ownership of More than Five Percent on Behalf of Another Person

 

The Accounts described above in Item 2 have the right to receive or the power to direct the receipt of dividends from, or the proceeds from the sale of, securities held in their respective accounts. To the knowledge of the Reporting Persons, the interest in any such account does not exceed 5% of the class of securities. Except to the extent described herein, each Reporting Person disclaims beneficial ownership of all such securities.

Items 7 – 9

Not Applicable

 

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Item 10

Certification

 

By signing below I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the securities referred to above were not acquired and are not held for the purpose of or with the effect of changing or influencing the control of the issuer of the securities and were not acquired and are not held in connection with or as a participant in any transaction having that purpose or effect, other than activities solely in connection with a nomination under Section 230.14a-11.

 

 

SIGNATURE

After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.

	January 24, 2017
	Date
	NEIL GAGNON
	/s/ Neil Gagnon
	GAGNON SECURITIES LLC
	/s/ Neil Gagnon
	Name:  Neil Gagnon
	Its:      CEO
	GAGNON ADVISORS, LLC
	/s/ Neil Gagnon
	Name:  Neil Gagnon
	Its:       CEO