SINA, 58.com Among Billionaire Lei Zhang’s Big Purchases in Q2

Leading investment management firm Hillhouse Capital Management, founded by billionaire Lei Zhang, invests in various asset classes with a long-term time horizon. The fund uses a fundamental bottom-up approach to stock selection and focuses its investments in the consumer, tech, and healthcare industries.

As of the latest 13F reporting period, Hillhouse Capital Management held a U.S. equity portfolio with positions valued at $3.97 billion, down from $4.58 billion at the end of the March. In this article, we’ll take a look at Hillhouse Capital Management’s five biggest purchases made during second quarter.

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Lei Zhang Hillhouse Capital

Clearside Biomedical Inc (NASDAQ:CLSD)

– Shares Owned by Hillhouse Capital Management (as of June 30): 600,000

– Value of Hillhouse Capital Management’s Holding (as of June 30): $4.21 million

Hillhouse Capital Management added late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company Clearside Biomedical Inc (NASDAQ:CLSD) to its portfolio during the second quarter, buying 600,000 shares of the company worth $4.21 million on June 30. Clearside Biomedical, which began trading on the NASDAQ on June 2, reported revenue of $5,000 and a net loss of $0.62 per share for the second quarter. The company recently announced positive results from its phase-2 clinical trial for TANZANITE in Macular Edema Associated with Retinal Vein Occlusion (RVO), as patients achieved better results, while fewer of them needed additional intravitreal Eylea treatments compared to a control group. Shares of Clearside Biomedical have dipped by 2.76% since the company’s IPO. A total of eight funds in our database opened long positions in Clearside Biomedical Inc (NASDAQ:CLSD)  during the second quarter.

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Liberty Global plc – Class A Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:LBTYA)

– Shares Owned by Hillhouse Capital Management (as of June 30): 672,000

– Value of Hillhouse Capital Management’s Holding (as of June 30): $19.53 million

Hillhouse Capital Management added a new position in cable television and internet services company Liberty Global plc – Class A Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:LBTYA) during the second quarter, acquiring 672,000 shares worth $19.53 million. The company appointed Charlie Bracken as its new CFO after Bernie Dvorak announced his retirement as Co-CFO. The company is also adding KPMG Partner Jason Waldron as its Chief Accounting Officer, with his tenure beginning on October 1. A total of 51 funds in our database held shares of Liberty Global plc – Class A Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:LBTYA) at the end of June, with an aggregate value of $1.59 billion.

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On the next page we’ll discuss the rest of Hillhouse’s major second quarter moves, which involved RenaissanceRe Holdings, SINA Corp, and 58.com Inc.

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR)

– Shares Owned by Hillhouse Capital Management (as of June 30): 430,180

– Value of Hillhouse Capital Management’s Holding (as of June 30): $50.52 million

Next up is reinsurance and insurance coverage and related services company RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR), in which Hillhouse Capital Management increased its stake to 430,180 shares by the end of the second quarter, from 126,496 shares at the beginning of it. For the second quarter, the company reported revenue of $483.28 million, easily topping expectations by $73.32 million, though EPS of $1.55 was well below the $1.92 expected. Among the funds that we track, 15 held shares of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) at the end of June. Those shares have gained just over 2% this year.

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SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA)

– Shares Owned by Hillhouse Capital Management (as of June 30): 1.42 million

– Value of Hillhouse Capital Management’s Holding (as of June 30): $73.66 million

Hillhouse Capital Management acquired over 1.42 million shares of Chinese online media company SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) during the second quarter, with the new position accounting for 1.86% of the value of the fund’s equity portfolio. SINA Corp reported revenue of $241.35 million for the second quarter, which topped estimates by $9.66 million, while its EPS of $0.27 did even better, topping expectations by $0.12. Shares of SINA Corp are up by 49% on a year-to-date basis. A total of 21 funds in database held shares of SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) on June 30, including Robert Henry Lynch‘s Aristeia Capital, which opened a new position of 620,388 shares/

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58.com Inc (ADR) (NYSE:WUBA)

– Shares Owned by Hillhouse Capital Management (as of June 30): 3.71 million

– Value of Hillhouse Capital Management’s Holding (as of June 30): $170.61 million

We finish with China-based online classified and listing platform company 58.com Inc (ADR) (NYSE:WUBA), in which Hillhouse Capital Management increased its stake by 2.38 million shares during the second quarter. 58.com Inc reported second quarter EPS of $0.15, greatly surprising analysts, which had expected it to lose $0.11 per share. Its revenue of $297.82 million missed estimates by $5.6 million however. Shares of the company are down by over 28% so far in 2016. Out of the 749 funds tracked by Insider Monkey that filed 13F’s for the June 30 reporting period, 29 of them were long 58.com Inc (ADR) (NYSE:WUBA) at that time.

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Disclosure: None