Silver Lake Rakes in $2 Billion From Alibaba Sale as Loeb Exits

Posted by Carisa Kissane on Friday, May 17, 2024

(Bloomberg) — Silver Lake Management reaped more than $2 billion from selling 25 million shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., while Dan Loeb’s Third Point hedge fund exited its position in the first quarter.

Silver Lake, the biggest technology-focused private equity firm, sold almost half of its stake in the Chinese e-commerce company, which debuted in New York last year with the largest ever initial public offering, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The sale netted between $2 billion and $2.6 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Alibaba investment has proven a boon to Silver Lake, which along with its affiliates injected $825 million into the e-commerce operator, including $447 million from its third buyout fund in late 2011. The $26 billion private equity firm, founded in 1999 by Jim Davidson, Glenn Hutchins and David Roux, now owns about 1.2 percent, or almost 30 million shares, of the $219 billion company.

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Gemma Hart, a external spokeswoman for Menlo Park, California-based Silver Lake, declined to comment. Robert Christie, a U.S.-based spokesman for Alibaba, declined to comment in an e-mailed response to questions on the sale.

Billionaire Loeb exited a stake in Alibaba in the first quarter that was valued at $1 billion at the end of 2014. Third Point, which oversees about $17.4 billion, sold 10 million shares in the Chinese technology company, according to a separate regulatory filing.

Alibaba’s Decline

Hangzhou, China-based Alibaba’s shares fell 20 percent in the first quarter after the company reported revenue that missed estimates in January. The stock jumped earlier this month after Alibaba named a new chief executive officer and posted a 45 percent increase in revenue.

It rose 0.2 percent to $88.60 at 1:14 p.m. in New York on Friday, extending its rally since the company reported better-than-estimated earnings on May 7 to 11 percent.

Money manager Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. added 13 million shares, or about $1.1 billion based on Alibaba’s March 31 closing price, in the quarter according to an SEC filing.

Fund managers who oversee more than $100 million in equities in the U.S. must file a Form 13F within 45 days of each quarter’s end to list those stocks as well as options and convertible bonds. The filings don’t show non-U.S. securities, holdings that aren’t publicly traded, or cash.

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