George Soros' family office, Soros Fund Management LLC, had a busy second quarter, establishing several new positions in merger targets and companies debuting on a major U.S. exchange. Ten of the family office's top 30 common stock holdings at June 30, excluding puts, calls and exchange-traded funds, represented newly disclosed positions, according to the most recent Form 13F.
Four of the top 30 common stock holdings began trading on the NYSE or Nasdaq during the second quarter. FIGS Inc., a digital retailer of healthcare apparel, completed an initial public offering May 26. The shares started trading on the NYSE on May 27, closing up 36.5% from the offering price. Soros Fund Management held about a 2% stake at the end of the second quarter.
Commercial electric vehicle company Proterra Inc. completed a merger with special purpose acquisition company ArcLight Clean Transition Corp. on June 14. Shares of Proterra were listed on the Nasdaq the following day. The family office owned a 3.73% stake at June 30.
Payment processor Marqeta Inc. completed an IPO and began trading on the Nasdaq on June 9, and ride-hailing company DiDi Global Inc. made its NYSE trading debut at the end of June. The family office held stakes of less than 1% in each of the companies as of June 30.
Five of the other new holdings in the top 30 were in companies that are merger targets. Among the M&A targets, Soros' office took the largest position in IHS Markit Ltd. with a $152.1 million stake, as of June 30. The financial media and data solutions company announced a merger with S&P Global Inc. on Nov. 30, 2020.
The family office took a $91.9 million position in Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., a rare-disease specialist company that completed its merger with AstraZeneca PLC on July 21.
In addition to the new positions, Soros Fund Management significantly reweighted some of its holdings during the quarter. The family office more than tripled its stake in semiconductor company Maxim Integrated Products Inc. and increased its position in digital real estate company Opendoor Technologies Inc. by 157.3%. The investor decreased positions in solid-state battery company QuantumScape Corp. and casino-focused real estate investment trust VICI Properties Inc., which were lower by 51.5% and 69.6%, respectively.
Many of the first-quarter initiations, including ViacomCBS Inc., did not remain in the portfolio for long. In the second quarter, the family office exited its class B common stock position in the media and entertainment company, which had been worth $194.3 million at March 31. Also leaving the portfolio was a perennial top financial performer in the bank universe: Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bancorp.
Soros Fund Management modified its exposure to energy industry ETFs in the second quarter.
SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF represented the lone ETF entry. The put position had an implied value of $48.3 million at June 30.
On the other hand, the family office eliminated its varied exposure to Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund. The ordinary share-position had been worth $14.7 million at March 31. And the implied values of the calls and puts were $98.1 million and $14.7 million, respectively.