Pershing Square Capital Management,
the $6 billion activist hedge fund, is reportedly considering a public
offering for one of its funds during the next couple of years. Bill
Ackman, the famous man behind the fund, said that tapping public
markets for funds would give it capacity to make larger investments and
have more influence in its activist shareholder campaigns.
The
move would follow that of several other hedge funds and private equity
firms that have recently gone public. Fortress Investment Group (FIG)
and Och-Ziff Capital Management (OZM) are the two most recent such
hedge funds that have listed on the New York Stock Exchange; however,
shares in both firms have declined since their IPO casting doubt on the
viability of public hedge funds.
"The natural evolution at some
point is that I believe our fund will be publicly traded," said Ackman,
speaking at a New York conference on Wednesday. "It would give us more
staying power and credibility with management. If we had permanent
capital I think it would be good for investors and good for us."
Many
investors have been watching Ackman’s Pershing Square since its
successes in McDonalds (MCD) and Ceridian Corp. (CEN) where it won
activist campaigns to unlock shareholder value. The famed activist
acquired shares in McDonalds at around $28 only to have them rise to
their current level around $60 while it has already raked in healthy
gains in Ceridian at the same time. Investors are currently watching
his long position in Target Corp. (TGT) and his short positions in MBIA
Inc. (MBI) and Ambac Financial Group (ABK).
In the end, Bill
Ackman is a very successful investor that definitely knows what he is
doing. It will be interesting to see if any of his funds end up going
public as they could represent great opportunities for investors to
latch on to his great success much more easily than following SEC
filings. Combined, these factors make Pershing Square a hedge fund
worth watching!
Related Companies
Fortress Investment Group (FIG)
Och-Ziff Capital Management (OZM)