Bill Gates’ Investment Arm Edges Up Stake in Liberty Global plc (LBTYA)

A recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, shows that Bill Gates has edged up his holding in Liberty Global plc – Class A Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:LBTYA). His position contains almost 10.86 million shares, versus 10.89 million held previously. The new position is equal to 5.1% of the Liberty Global’s outstanding class A common stock.

The aggregate stake is held by Mr. Gates’ private investment arm, Cascade Investment, and by Michael Larson-managed charitable fund Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. Cascade owns around 8.74 million shares of Liberty Global plc – Class A Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:LBTYA), the other 2.19 million shares being held by the Trust, up from around 2.16 million shares held previously.

A couple of days ago, Liberty Global plc – Class A Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:LBTYA) and Discovery Communication formed a joint venture to acquire All3Media, a company engaged in production and distribution of TV programming. According to a press release, the buyers will keep All3Media’s independence and the company will continue to operate under its own name, keeping also its management team. The value of the deal amounts to around $930 million, which represents an 8.50 EBITDA multiple.

Moreover, Liberty Global plc – Class A Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:LBTYA) has recently posted its financial results for the first quarter of 2014, reporting a revenue worth $4.5 billion, significantly higher than $2.7 billion a year earlier. However, its net loss expanded to $79 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, from $1.0 million reported for the first quarter of the last year. For the full 2014, the company is expected to post a net loss worth $0.04 per share.

Many hedge funds from our database reported holding shares of Liberty Global plc – Class A Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:LBTYA) in the previous round of 13F filing. Boykin Curry’s Eagle Capital Management held a billionaire stake, which contained 14.2 million shares of the company. Stephen Mandel‘s Lone Pine Capital and Chase Coleman and Feroz Dewan‘s Tiger Global Management LLC, are two other hedge funds bullish on Liberty Global, raising their stakes by 31% and 16% respectively to 5.18 million, and 4.64 million shares respectively.

Last month, Cascade also reported a significant position in Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. (ADR) (NYSE:KOF), of which Mr. Gates owns a total of 88.01 million shares, held via Cascade and the Trust.

Disclosure: none

Recommended Reading:

Bill Gates’ Investment Arm Discloses Stake in Thai Fund Inc. (TTF)

Bill Gates’ Investment Arm Reports Stake in Arcos Dorados Holding Inc (ARCO)

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust Discloses Selling Some Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B); Plans To Sell 65 Mln More