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Vivint Solar Plunges as Blackstone Sells Shares at Discount

Vivint Solar Plunges as Blackstone Sells Shares at Discount

(Bloomberg) -- Vivint Solar Inc. dropped the most in more than two years after saying a fund managed by Blackstone Group LP, its biggest owner, is selling 8 million of the rooftop solar company’s shares at a 21 percent discount.

Vivint fell 21 percent to $5.51 at 11:33 a.m. in New York, after earlier sliding as much as 22 percent. That’s the most intraday since March 2016, when the company canceled plans to be purchased for $1.9 billion by the ailing SunEdison Inc.

Blackstone bought the residential solar installer company in 2012 for about $2 billion. Vivint sold shares in a 2014 initial public offering for $16 each, with Blackstone retaining a majority stake. The shares gained a penny in their first day of trading to reach their highest price ever. They’ve gained 73 percent this year through Thursday.

Vivint Solar Plunges as Blackstone Sells Shares at Discount

Blackstone is Vivint’s largest shareholder with a 69 percent stake as of Sept. 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The 313 Acquisition LLC unit it controls agreed to sell the shares at $5.50 each in a public offering, Lehi, Utah- based Vivint said in a statement Friday. That’s less than the $7 a share closing price Thursday.

A Blackstone spokeswoman declined to comment on the sale.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Martin in New York at cmartin11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Ryan at jryan173@bloomberg.net, Will Wade, Margot Habiby

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