Temasek sells 7.3m ADRs in Alibaba in Q4 as shares rally
Singapore
TEMASEK Holdings Pte sold shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd in the fourth quarter as the Chinese Internet firm's shares rallied following its initial public offering (IPO) in September.
The Singapore investment company sold 7.3 million American depositary receipts (ADRs) in Alibaba, leaving it with 10.7 million shares, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The value of its holding in Alibaba declined by US$487.5 million, the biggest decrease among the firm's US listed holdings.
"They must have made about US$300 million through that sale," said Enrico Soddu, an analyst at Institutional Investor's Sovereign Wealth Center in London. "When everyone was buying, they were selling."
Alibaba shares have been declining after reaching a record US$120 in November, paring their post-IPO return to 31 per cent. The company, founded by billionaire Jack Ma, raised US$25 billion in the largest IPO in history on Sept 18, when it sold its shares for US$68 each.
The sale is not a vote against the company as Temasek still owns a sizable stake in Alibaba, Mr Soddu said.
Temasek also holds Alibaba ADRs through a unit called Seatown Holdings Pte, which reported owning 7.45 million ADRs at the end of the fourth quarter. That stake was unchanged from the previous quarter.
Temasek had invested S$50 million in Alibaba in its fiscal year ended March 2011, it said in that year's annual report. It was one of the investors that agreed to buy as much as US$1.6 billion stock from Alibaba employees, people familiar with the matter said in September 2011.
It was also among buyers when Alibaba repurchased shares from Yahoo Inc in 2012 through transactions valued at US$7.6 billion and sold them partly to existing shareholders.
Temasek has not disclosed the amount of its holdings in Alibaba's China registered shares. The ADRs that it got through the IPO are converted from its holdings in those shares.
Money managers who oversee more than US$100 million in equities must file a Form 13F with the SEC within 45 days of each quarter's end to show their US-listed stocks, options and convertible bonds. The filings do not show non-US securities or how much cash the firms hold.
"The section 13F filing is part of our normal process of filing with the US SEC for our market holdings in the US, as well as those of our subsidiaries, even those that are independently managed and operated," Temasek spokesman Stephen Forshaw said in a statement. "Movements in shareholdings reflect the normal rebalancing of our portfolio that we undertake from time to time."
Temasek increased its stake in pharmaceuticals maker Gilead Sciences Inc by 7.8 million shares to 20.6 million shares, helping increase the value of its stake by US$584 million during the quarter, the filing shows. BLOOMBERG
