The firm had explored selling hundreds of millions of dollars in stakes in mid- and late-stage startups to provide cash distributions to investors in some of its older funds — at a time when other exit opportunities such as initial public offerings are scarce, the people said. Some assets it looked to unload were bought in recent years at significantly higher valuations.
Most of Tiger Global’s private investments are held by its venture funds, which are long-term vehicles, giving it the flexibility to sell now or later. Chase Coleman’s firm also has been buying shares on the secondary market.
A representative for New York-based Tiger Global declined to comment.
Participants in the secondary market were at an impasse for much of last year. But now the bid-ask spread — the gap between what price buyers will offer and sellers accept — is narrower than it has been all year, according to a June 15 report by Forge Global Holdings Inc. It found that, at the end of May, shares of startups were trading at a median discount of 61% compared with valuations at their latest funding rounds.
Earlier this year, Tiger Global reached an agreement on behalf of some of its partners to sell their personal unfunded stakes in other venture capital firms to Lexington Partners, people said. Those holdings aren’t part of Tiger Global’s funds.
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As of Jan. 1, the firm managed $51 billion, of which $37 billion was invested in private assets through its venture capital unit. Last year, Tiger Global’s assets plunged by about half as its hedge and long-only funds struggled and venture investments were marked down. The hedge fund has rebounded this year, gaining 15.5% through May.