Pershing Square Capital Management
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| Industry | Hedge funds |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | Bill Ackman |
| Headquarters | 888 7th Avenue, NYC |
| Total assets | $12.4 billion (December 2015) |
Pershing Square Capital Management is an American hedge fund management company founded and run by Bill Ackman, located at 888 7th Avenue in New York.
In 2004, with $54 million in funding from his personal funds and former business partner Leucadia National, Ackman started Pershing Square Capital Management.
Ackman is known to occasionally hire people outside of traditional finance backgrounds; for instance, his professionals have included a former fly fishing guide, a former tennis pro, and "a man whom he met in a cab."
Pershing has launched activist campaigns against McDonald's, Wendy's, and Herbalife.
In 2005, Pershing bought a significant share in fast food chain Wendy's International and successfully pressured them to sell its Tim Horton's doughnut chain. Wendy's spun off the Canadian restaurant donut chain through an IPO in 2006 and raised $670 million for Wendy's investors. After Ackman sold his shares at a substantial profit after a dispute over executive succession, the stock price collapsed, raising criticism that the sale of Wendy's fastest growing unit left the company in a weaker market position. Ackman blamed the poor performance on their new CEO.
In December 2007, his funds owned a 10% stake in Target Corporation, valued at $4.2 billion through the purchase of and derivatives. His funds now own a 7.8% stake. In December 2010, his funds held a 38% stake in Borders Group and on December 6, 2010, Ackman indicated he would finance a buyout of Barnes & Noble for US$900M.
On January 9, 2009, the fund disclosed a 7.4% ownership stake in General Growth Properties (GGP) according to documents filed with the SEC, becoming the second-largest shareholder behind Brookfield Asset Management. The fund was betting on the company to go bankrupt in a way that would leave its shareholders intact. In November 2010, Pershing Square helped the company emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As of August 2012 the fund holds beneficial ownership of 7.7 percent of General Growth's stock.
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