Appaloosa Management’s David Tepper just showed activist managers how to get it done. TerraForm Power announced Wednesday that it has revised the terms of the deal that called for it to acquire the Vivint Solar portfolio of residential rooftop solar systems under the planned merger of Vivint Solar with a subsidiary of SunEdison. The upshot: The final purchase price has been cut by about $123 million. In addition, 313 Acquisition, which is controlled by private equity funds managed by Blackstone, agreed to provide a $250 million credit facility to Maryland Heights, Missouri-based SunEdison. Tepper, the founder of Short Hills, New Jersey-based Appaloosa Management and a big investor in TerraForm, had opposed the deal for a variety of reasons, including his belief the transaction departed from TerraForm’s business model. Shares of TerraForm, of which Appaloosa owns 9.9 percent, surged 24 percent to close at $10.74, while SunEdison jumped nearly 15 percent to close at $3.96.
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New York-based Tiger Global Management cut its stake in Autohome by nearly 40 percent, to 5 million American Depositary Shares, or 9.9 percent of the Chinese online company that specializes in the auto business.
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Edward Lampert, founder of Bay Harbor Islands, Florida-based ESL Investments, purchased 318,000 shares of Sears Holdings spinoff Lands’ End for between roughly $21 and $22 per share, according to a regulatory filing. The transactions took place on December 7 and 8. The stock, which had dropped by nearly two-thirds from its 52-week high, rallied by 3.64 percent on the news, to close at $23.06.
