Seth Klarman's Baupost Group Raises NovaCopper Stake

Seth Klarman's hedge fund firm Baupost Group filed a 13G with the SEC regarding shares of NovaCopper (NCQ).  Per the filing, Baupost now owns 10.73% of the company with 5,005,298 shares.

This filing was made due to portfolio activity on November 30th and marks almost a 9% increase in the number of shares they own since the end of the third quarter.

Our Hedge Fund Wisdom newsletter a few weeks ago pointed out how Baupost was buying in Q3 as well.  While they've added to the stake, it's still a small position relative to their other equity holdings and overall assets under management.

They originally received shares of NCQ in the spin-off from NovaGold Resources (NG), which they also own and have consistently been buying this year as it trades lower.

Per Google Finance, NovaCopper is "a base metals exploration company. The Company is focused on exploring and developing the Ambler mining district, which VMS deposits containing copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver and carbonate replacement deposits containing copper, cobalt and silver."

We recently posted up an old profile of Klarman for those interested as well.

John Paulson Keeps Buying NovaGold Resources (NG)

John Paulson's hedge fund firm Paulson & Co has been active in shares of NovaGold Resources (NG) yet again. They've just filed an amended 13D filing with the SEC revealing they've purchased an additional 4.5 million shares.

You'll recall that we recently detailed how Paulson had been buying NovaGold and how the company has plans to spin-off NovaCopper. The hedge fund has continued to buy and now owns 34,563,518 shares of NG, or 12.4% of the company.

The latest disclosure was made due to portfolio activity on April 3rd. They made various purchases at the beginning of April, the largest of which were: 1 million shares at a price of $7.17, 500,000 shares at a price of $7.01 and 586,500 shares at a price of $6.82. The filing says that Paulson has paid $209,652,160 to acquire their collective stake.

For more from this hedgie, check out background on John Paulson's gold fund.

Per Google Finance, NovaGold Resources is "a precious metals company engaged in the exploration and development of mineral properties in North America. The Company has a portfolio of mineral properties located in Alaska, the United States and British Columbia, Canada.

The Donlin Gold project in Alaska is held by a limited liability company owned equally by wholly owned subsidiaries of NovaGold and Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick). The Galore Creek project is held by a partnership owned equally by wholly owned subsidiaries of NovaGold and Teck Resources Limited (Teck). The Ambler project in Alaska is wholly owned by NovaCopper Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NovaGold."

Paulson & Co was recently named as one of the top 10 hedge funds by net gains since inception.

John Paulson Adds to Activist NovaGold Position

John Paulson's hedge fund firm Paulson & Co has been active in numerous stocks lately, including NovaGold Resources (NG)


Activist on NovaGold Resources (NG)

John Paulson filed an amended 13D with the SEC regarding his activist position in the gold miner. They've disclosed almost a 30 million position in the name and have increased their position size by 30% since the beginning of the year. They now have a 10.8% ownership stake in the company.

While the hedge fund originally bought the miner as part of Paulson's gold fund in a wager against the US dollar, shares now have an added catalyst as well.

NovaGold's Spin Off

NovaGold plans to spin off its Northern Alaska Ambler copper deposits which will now be known as NovaCopper.

Shareholders of NG will receive 1 share of NovaCopper for every 6 shares of NG owned. The shareholder meeting takes place on March 28th and the spin off is largely expected to be complete by April 30th.

The new company will be headed by former NG CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse. While he's obviously biased, he thinks it's a great opportunity and highlighted the company's prospects:

"NovaCopper holds highly valuable assets ... Our ultimate objective is that the twin attributes of high grades from multiple deposits, when combined with jurisdictional safety, will result in NovaCopper being rated as the premier vehicle in its class."

In an attempt to focus solely on gold, NovaGold is also looking to sell its Galore Creek copper project as well.


For more recent activity from this hedge fund, you can read Paulson's presentation on Hartford Financial Services Group (HIG) as well as how Paulson sold some Delphi (DLPH).

Soros Fund Management Files 13G on NovaGold Resources (NG)

George Soros' hedge fund firm Soros Fund Management recently filed a 13G on shares of NovaGold Resources (NG). The filing was made due to activity on March 11th and in the disclosure we see Soros now has an 8.49% ownership stake in the company with 18,700,164 shares. This is not a new position for them as they previously owned shares as we noted when we looked at Soros' portfolio.

Additionally, we already knew that these NG shares actually came from an offering direct from NovaGold. Interestingly enough, John Paulson's hedge fund Paulson & Co also took part in another NG offering under the same terms. These two hedgies secured shares at a nicely discounted price of $5.50 per share. So, there's nothing wildly new here, but we get a glimpse as to just how much NovaGold Soros now owns.

Taken from Google Finance, NovaGold Resources is "a precious metals company, which is engaged in the exploration and development of mineral properties in Alaska, the United States and British Columbia, Canada. The Company conducts its operations through wholly owned subsidiaries, partnerships and joint ventures. The Company is primarily focused on gold properties, some of which also have copper, silver and zinc resources."

For more portfolio maneuvers from the top investment managers out there, check in daily with our hedge fund portfolio tracking series.

Paulson & Soros To Buy NovaGold Resources (NG) Shares

Two big name hedge funds have recently set their sights on the same investment. John Paulson's firm Paulson & Co and George Soros' hedge fund firm Soros Fund Management are set to purchase shares of NovaGold Resources (NG) in separate offerings by the company.

This morning (March 8th), NovaGold announced that it is proposing to issue 16,636,364 shares at a price of $5.50 to Quantum Partners, Ltd., an investment fund ran by Soros Fund Management. This comes at a substantial discount to current prices as NG currently trades around $6.48. The purchase would mean Soros' hedge fund is buying $75 million worth of NG shares. The company said they planned to use the net proceeds to fund exploration and development and for general corporate purposes (including possible future acquisitions). This offering is expected to close on March 11th. In addition to this position, we recently took a look at the rest of Soros' equity portfolio.

Prior to Soros' offering, NovaGold announced on March 4th that it is proposing to issue 18,181,818 shares priced at $5.50 to John Paulson's hedge funds. This means Paulson would have nearly a $100 million stake in the company. NovaGold's offering for Paulson is expected to close on March 9th. The press release noted that Paulson acquired shares for several investment funds. We would assume that the majority of these shares though would go into his new gold fund as the strategy for that venture has been to acquire equity stakes in gold miners. We've previously taken a look at Paulson's equity portfolio as well for those interested.

Definitely an interesting development here as we see more hedgies ramp up their exposure to gold mining. The terms of the deal were definitely favorable for the hedge funds as they're already sitting on a nice paper gain given shares are trading much higher than the offering price. Regarding the hedge fund purchases, Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, President & CEO of NovaGold said that, "These groups have been following NovaGold for some time, recognizing both the near term and long-term strategic value of our world-class gold and copper-gold assets. With the $175 million raised through these financings, we have fulfilled our current equity objectives and are exceptionally well positioned to advance and maximize the value of our projects for the benefit of all NovaGold shareholders."

Taken from Google Finance, NovaGold Resources is "a precious metals company, which is engaged in the exploration and development of mineral properties in Alaska, the United States and British Columbia, Canada. The Company conducts its operations through wholly owned subsidiaries, partnerships and joint ventures. The Company is primarily focused on gold properties, some of which also have copper, silver and zinc resources." Those of you wanting a technical look can view an instant analysis of NG's chart here from MarketClub.