Future
Ackman’s Wait for His Long-Awaited Fund Offering
The billionaire financier’s U.S.-listed investment vehicle is facing a delay in pricing its I.P.O., the latest speed bump in its journey to the public markets.
Bill Ackman has had to delay the I.P.O. of his latest fund amid scrutiny of a letter he wrote to some investors about its prospects.Credit…Andrew Harnik/Associated Press
Ackman delays his big bet
Monday isn’t going to be the day that Bill Ackman prices the I.P.O. of his Pershing Square USA investment vehicle, as had been planned.
That has been pushed back at least a few days as the S.E.C. reviews a headline-grabbing letter that the financier sent to investors. But the long-awaited fund, whose investors will probably include many who follow Ackman’s provocations on social media, is still coming, it says.
The context: Pershing Square USA is a so-called closed-end fund that’s raising money to make the sort of concentrated investments that Ackman is now known for. The fund would have permanent capital, since those who buy in can only cash out if someone else buys their stake.
The fund had faced big expectations after Ackman set an initial I.P.O. target of $25 billion, which would have been one of the biggest in history. But closed-end funds traditionally don’t invite much investor interest, raising questions of whether the mogul was being too ambitious.
The question now is timing. The fund said on Friday that it was still proceeding with its I.P.O., after a New York Stock Exchange website said the deal was “postponed.” (The exchange site now describes the offering as “pending on a date to be announced.”)
Here’s what happened: On Wednesday, Pershing Square USA filed with the S.E.C. a letter that Ackman had sent to shareholders of his hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, about his expectations for the offering.
