Two Major Hedge Funds to Be Liquidated by Tontine

Tontine Partners, one of the largest and most successful hedge fund families, is now liquidating two of its major funds, Tontine Capital and Tontine Partners, CNBC has learned.

The hedge fund has also filed a number of Schedule 13D forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell major holdings Tontine has in firms such as Exide Technologies, Broadwind Energy and Westmoreland Coal .

The multi-billion dollar Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund, which is headed by Jeffrey Gendell, had posted average annual returns since 1997 of 38 percent.

Despite Gendell's track record for strong performance, this year bas been a dififerent story for Tontine. Tontine Capital is down 77.8 percent while Tontine Financial is down 83.3 percent for the year. (See video of CNBC's David Faber discussing Tontine's decision to close two major funds, left.)

Gendell will be unwinding the funds for the next year and a half. However, the company is to keep Tontine 25 and Tontine Financial open.