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Computer magnate Michael Dell's venture capital fund has increased its stake in troubled SemGroup Energy Partners LP, according to filings with securities regulators.
MSD Capital LP drilled deeper into the Tulsa-based energy partnership by buying 123,200 shares of common stock and taking on exposure to another 519,125 shares in a equity swap. Dell's personal investment fund now owns nearly 2.3 million units of in SGLP, as the company is known by its stock ticker.
Dell is chairman and CEO of Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Inc., a major computer manufacturer.
The move by MSD comes even as SGLP deals with its own credit default and the bankruptcy of its parent company, SemGroup LP, due to huge oil futures trading losses. Dell now owns more than 10 percent of the publicly traded SemGroup subsidiary.
"This could be self-fulfilling prophecy," said Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management Co. in Tulsa. "The fact that it (SGLP stock) has held up so well has many people starting to believe that it's destined to make it or that it's destined to be valued at a price
higher than $10."
Trading for SemGroup Energy Partners closed at $10.38 per unit, up 8 cents from Wednesday's finish. The company's stock dropped below $6 at one point during the past month before rallying.
MSD Capital bought the 123,200 units of common stock at about $9.98 per unit, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission document released this week. Last week, the fund took over the 519,125 units in a equity swap with New York-based Citibank, according to the SEC filing.
MSD agreed to a reference price of nearly $8.82 per unit with Citibank. Under the equity swap terms, MSD's subsidiary Torchlight fund would pay the bank for any negative price performance of those shares at that value, while Citibank would pay MSD for any positive price upswings.
The total return swap will be a 10-year deal, according to the SEC filing.
Only a few days ago, SemGroup Energy Partners was threatened with being delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market because company officials have not released a second-quarter earnings report. But Nasdaq officials have granted SGLP a hearing, which has not been scheduled.
One reason for SemGroup Energy Partners' value holding steady is its owned assets, including thousands of miles of pipeline, asphalt terminals and 6.8 million barrels' worth of oil storage at the Cushing terminal. Some investors see those assets -- worth between $250 million and $300 million, depending on estimates -- and opt to get in while the year-old public company is at a relatively low price.
Yet others may be selling because of SemGroup's bankruptcy -- SGLP previously earned most of its revenue from services for the parent company -- and a relative lack of disclosure. SemGroup Energy Partners' officials held a conference call last week to talk about signing up new oil storage customers but did not name them, took no questions from analysts or media, and revealed that no cash distribution was forthcoming in the current quarter.
Buyers should be aware, and MSD Capital or Dell are no exception, Dollarhide warned.
"I've seen some really brilliant minds make some bad decisions," he said, citing specific rare failures by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. "Just because he built a business on his own doesn't mean he has the golden touch."
MSD Capital's purchases and equity swap give Dell's fund more voting power on future decisions. SGLP's board is controlled by representatives of hedge funds Manchester Securities and Alerian Capital Management, which took power after SemGroup LP defaulted on a $150 million loan by the two funds last month. Neither MSD Capital nor SGLP officials could comment Thursday.
SemGroup LP spun off some of its oil and asphalt storage, terminaling and transportation assets to take SGLP public in July 2007. The per-unit value reached above $30 before settling near $22 and dropping dramatically on July 17, when revelations about the parent company's debt crises went public.
SemGroup LP traders lost $2.4 billion in taking failed "short" positions on the oil futures market, expecting prices to eventually drop, according to reports. The company's already-tight cash flow was overwhelmed as it was required to pay higher margin calls on rising transactions over the past two years, records show.
Numerous creditors and some shareholders have accused co-founder and now-replaced CEO Tom Kivisto of leading an "unauthorized" and "risky" trading strategy that sought "to enrich" company officials, according to documents filed in Wilmington, Del., where SemGroup LP sought bankruptcy protection July 22.
Kivisto has not responded to the allegations publicly or in court filings.
Rod Walton 581-8457
rod.walton@tulsaworld.com
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