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.

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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