Temasek cuts Alibaba stake, buys shares of Antero Resources

[SINGAPORE] Temasek Holdings pared its investment in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. for a second consecutive quarter while emerging as a shareholder of oil and gas producer Antero Resources Corp.

The Singapore state-owned firm sold 4.1 million American depository receipts in the Jack Ma-run company, leaving it with 35.5 million at the end of December, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday. Alibaba is now the second-largest holding in Temasek's US stocks portfolio, comprising 25 per cent.

Temasek, which was one of the early investors in Alibaba, has been paring its stake in the online giant and had sold 14.5 million ADRs in the third quarter ended September, an earlier filing showed. At the time, Temasek said the changes reflect normal portfolio rebalancing and that it still remains "significantly invested" in Alibaba.

Level 3 Communications Inc, a Broomfield, Colorado-based telecom company, is now the biggest among Temasek's US stock holdings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. CenturyLink Inc on Oct 31 agreed to buy Level 3 Communications for about US$34 billion in cash and stock.

Temasek in July reported the first decline in its portfolio in seven years. The value of assets fell 9 per cent to S$242 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, according to the firm's annual review.

The state investor bought 9.8 million shares of Antero Resources in the fourth quarter and acquired 1.5 million shares of Visa Inc in the period. The firm also bought 1.7 million shares in coatings maker PPG Industries Inc and 12.2 million ADRs of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc, a Chinese delivery service that gets the bulk of its business from Alibaba.

Money managers who oversee more than US$100 million in equities must file a Form 13F with the SEC within 45 days of the end of each quarter to show their US-listed stocks, options and convertible bonds. The filings don't disclose non-US securities or how much cash the firms hold.

BLOOMBERG