Kennedy Wilson Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:KW) During the quarter, the Fund was able to acquire shares of Kennedy Wilson Common at a substantial discount to our estimate of NAV, as the general market sell off, combined with unfounded fears of market liquidity for deals, pushed the stock down significantly.
Kennedy Wilson Holdings (Kennedy Wilson) is a U.S.-based real estate operating company. The company is an integrated global real estate investment and services company with a $2 billion portfolio of investments in a diversified mix of commercial and residential assets. In addition, Kennedy Wilson has more than $18 billion of assets under management (AUM) on behalf of third parties.
The management team owns 18% of the company's stock and has historically been a savvy capital allocator, having made substantial investments in Japan during the 1990s, in the U.S. following the financial crisis, and in Europe and the U.K. in more recent years. The template has been the same in all markets: invest capital in out-of-favor regions or property types at substantial discounts to underlying value, actively manage properties and add value during the holding period, realize profits over the long term, and recycle capital into new opportunistic investments. This model has produced a notable 10-year tangible book value growth CAGR of 13.5%. Our knowledge and due diligence of Kennedy Wilson was aided significantly in partnership with Third Avenue's Real Estate team, who have owned the stock since early in 2015.
At our average cost of just over $17 per share, we not only have significant upside to our NAV estimate of $25, but also what we consider to be a "free option" on performance fees and monetization of low basis (and now entitled) land acquired in conjunction with income-producing properties. The company appears poised to generate sizable NAV growth as it expands third-party AUM and harvests profits (including promotes) from a series of the well-timed investments it made over the past several years.
From Chip Rewey's second quarter 2016 Third Avenue Small-Cap Value Fund letter.
