Shares of residential solar installer, Vivint Solar (VSLR), tumbled nearly 22.1% in Friday trading after the news of a huge stake sell-off by a major shareholder hit the market.
313 Acquisitions LLC, a fund managed by Blackstone Group LP and Vivint’s principal stockholder, has decided to sell 8 million shares of the rooftop solar company. However, the major twist regarding the sale is that shares are being sold at $5.50 per share, a massive 21% discount to its yesterday's close price of $7.00 per share. The end result was the biggest intraday drop for Vivint since March 2016, when it had cancelled the ailing SunEdison’s takeover for $1.9 billion.
The real concern for the investment community is that a major shareholder is diluting its stake in the company – which might indicate that they don't see a very bright future in residential solar.
Blackstone bought stakes in the residential solar installer company in 2012 for about $2 billion and as of September 30, 2018 it enjoyed a 69% stake in the company.