Temasek made at least $300 million through that sale
Alibaba stock skyrocketed from its September IPO price of $68 to $120 on November 10, 2014. But the stock has declined to around $89 today amid concerns over regulatory scrutiny into the sale of fake goods on Alibaba’s platforms. The Chinese e-commerce giant’s weaker than expected December quarter results also dragged the stock down.
Stake sale not a vote against Alibaba
Singapore-based Temasek Holdings sold 7.3 million U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba during the fourth quarter rally, the investment firm said in its 13F filing. It still owns 10.7 million shares of Alibaba. Enrico Soddu, an analyst at the Institutional Investor’s Sovereign Wealth Center, told Klaus Wille of Bloomberg that Temasek made “at least $300 million” through that sale. Temasek was selling when everyone was buying Alibaba stock.
Alibaba raised a record $25 billion in its New York IPO on September 18. Soddu said Temasek’s stake sale is not a vote against the Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant. The Singapore state-run $177 billion investment firm still holds a sizable stake in Alibaba. It also owns Alibaba shares through its subsidiary Seatown Holdings. At the end of December 2014, Seatown held 7.45 million American shares of Alibaba, unchanged from the previous quarter.
Temasek increases stake in Gilead Sciences
Temasek first invested $37 million in Alibaba in the fiscal year ending March 2011, according to the firm’s 2010-11 annual report. Temasek was also among buyers when Alibaba repurchased $7.6 billion worth of it shares from Yahoo in 2012, and sold them partly to existing investors. The Singaporean firm has stepped up investments in technology, pharma and consumer products companies.
The investment firm revealed in its 13F filing that it purchased 7.8 million shares of Gilead Sciences. As of December 31, Temasek owns 20.6 million shares of the pharmaceutical company. Temasek first picked up a stake in Gilead Sciences in late 2013. Gilead stock has gained more than 35% since December 2013. Further, Temasek sold about 8 million shares in Mosaic Co during the fourth-quarter. It now owns 7.8 million shares in Mosaic.
Alibaba shares were down 0.11% to $88.95 in pre-market trading Tuesday.
