Wexford Capital Discloses 5.86% Stake in Hemisphere Media Group, Inc.

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Charles Davidson’s Wexford Capital disclosed a 5.86% passive stake in Hemisphere Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HMTV) in a recent filing with the SEC. The 710,641 shares obtained represent a new holding for Wexford, which did not report ownership of Hemisphere shares in its latest 13F filing.

The Greenwich, Connecticut-based Wexford Capital was founded in 1994, and manages several funds and private equity portfolios. Their equity portfolio was valued at $1.09 billion as of September 30, and features a good deal of turnover; they opened 57 positions during the third quarter of 2014, the largest being in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL), Magna International Inc. (USA) (NYSE:MGA) and Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA). On the other hand, they closed their positions in 56 stocks during the same quarter.

Charles Davidson - Wexford Capital

Hemisphere Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HMTV) is a $151 million market cap entertainment company which specializes in Spanish-language entertainment properties for U.S citizens. Among Hemisphere’s brands are the cable movie network Cine Latino, with 12 million subscribers across the U.S, Canada, and Latin America; WAPA and its U.S counterpart WAPA America, which provides Puerto Rico-centric news and entertainment, and Pasiones, a telenovella and drama series-focused channel. Hemisphere has experienced strong growth thanks to the rapidly growing Spanish-speaking population in the U.S, which is now estimated to be at 45 million as of 2012, nearly 15% of the total population.

On January 21, Hemisphere Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HMTV) announced a partnership with TLN Telelatino Network, a Canadian Spanish-languahe superstation. The partnership with TLN will result in three of Hemisphere’s channels making their way to Canada to join Cine Latino: WAPA America, Television Dominicana, and Centroamerica TV. Like the U.S, Canada also has a growing base of Spanish-speaking citizens, now standing at 1.6 million, or about 5% of the population.

As Wexford’s filing was back-dated to December 31, the latest deal had no bearing on their fourth quarter buying spree. Instead, Wexford is likely impressed with the company’s previous acquisitions and growth, which included launching three of their stations on Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC)s Optimum TV in the New York tri-state area back in December. Hemisphere’s stock is up 17% since the start of the fourth quarter, 2014.

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