Farallon Capital, a hedge fund founded by Thomas Steyer, has recently disclosed the initiation of a passive stake in Sky Solar Holdings Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:SKYS) according to a schedule 13G form filed with the SEC. The fund now owns 30.0 million shares of the independent power producer (IPP) that develops, owns and operates solar parks around the world, through its affiliates. The stake constitutes 7.7% of Sky Solar’s outstanding common stock.
Sky Solar Holdings Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:SKYS) is up by about 50% since its initial public offering in mid November last year. The $585.04 million company has also announced its plans to enter the Chinese solar market and is evaluating acquisition targets to that end.
Steyer had an illustrious career before he went on to set up Farallon Capital in 1986. He had worked both at Goldman Sachs at its risk arbitrage department, and also at Morgan Stanley in the mergers and acquisition division. Steyer stepped down from his post in Farallon in 2012 to pursue advocacy for alternative energy. As of the end of December last year, the value of the fund’s equity portfolio standsat $7.33 billion. Two significant sectors forming major chunks of the fund’s portfolio value were healthcare comprising 28% of the holdings and consumer discretionary constituting 30% of the portfolio value. Farallon added 30 new positions during the fourth quarter. The most notable of these in terms of value were long stakes in Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI), KLX Inc (NASDAQ:KLXI)and B/E Aerospace Inc (NASDAQ:BEAV). The fund also added Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CBST) and Rockwood Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ROC) to its equity portfolio during the same period, but the companies have been sold since then.
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Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI) is the second largest newly initiated stake in Farallon’s portfolio with 3.56 million shares valued at $199.33 million after Cubist Pharmaceuticals. The stake represents 2.72% of the fund’s equity portfolio. Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI) is also en route to its merger with Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) for $34.6 billion. The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of this year. Jeff Ubben’s ValueAct Capital recently disclosed a new position in the supplier of oilfield services worth about 21.95 million shares representing 5.1% of Baker Hughes’ outstanding common stock. The company is trading at the same level as at the end of March last year.
Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI)’s Earnings per Share estimates and price target have been cut by Oppenheimer recently owing to the prevalent decline in oil prices, but the company still has an ‘Outperform’ rating. The analyst has reduced the EPS estimate to $1.75 from $2.5 while for 2016 it has been cut to $2.6 from $3.4. Oppenheimer also slahsed the price target to $58 from $60.
Farallon Capital acquired some 1.97 million shares of KLX Inc (NASDAQ:KLXI) valued at $81.26 million during the fourth quarter. According to a filing in January this year, the stake was increased to 3.68 million shares. KLX Inc (NASDAQ:KLXI) is down by some 21% after its IPO in December last year, as the company was spun off from B/E Aerospace Inc (NASDAQ:BEAV). Farallon had also initiated a stake in the parent company during the fourth quarter as it added about 1.33 millon shares valued at $77.07 million to its equity portfolio. B/E Aerospace Inc (NASDAQ:BEAV), a $6.59 billion company, is a manufacturer of cabin interior products for commercial aircraft and business jets and the aftermarket distributor and value added service provider of aerospace fasteners. Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital and James Dinan’s York Capital Management also hold shares of B/E Aerospace Inc (NASDAQ:BEAV) in their equity portfolios, having disclosed stakes of 6.86 million shares valued at $398.13 million and 2.75 million shares valued at $159.75 million respectively in their latest 13F filings.
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