Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has postponed the much-publicized initial public offering of Pershing Square USA after failing to raise the “capital funds” he was seeking, The Washington Post has learned.
The closed-end fund, which was expected to raise between $2.5 billion and $4 billion, has now been postponed to an undisclosed date, according to a notice posted on the NYSE website Friday.
“Bill was unable to raise the more than $1 billion he raised from his friends,” a source directly involved in the IPO told The Post on Friday.
The IPO was originally priced on Monday before trading began the following day.
“People want to see where it trades first before investing,” the source said.
Ackman did not respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment.
Pershing Square issued a press release after the news broke, claiming that the IPO would proceed “with a pricing date to be announced.”
A separate source familiar with the matter told The Post that a date could come within the next two weeks.
According to a press release, the IPO price is expected to be $50 per common share.
The delay came a day after Ackman filed an update with the SEC that included a letter to shareholders of his Pershing Square Capital Management firm soliciting their support for his new investment venture.
The Harvard University graduate, who has become a regular on social media after posting about rampant anti-Semitism on college campuses, urged shareholders that “the sooner the better” for an IPO to “increase the strength” of the deal.
“He doesn’t want a small IPO,” the source said. “99 percent of these companies trade at a discount to their net asset value and he thought his public image would allow him to buck the trend, but that hasn’t been the case.”
Ackman’s fund has returned 16.5% for the year.
The 58-year-old, who has a net worth of $9.1 billion, according to Forbes magazine, and who endorsed former President Donald Trump shortly after he was shot, recently sold his stake in the company, valuing it at more than $10 billion.
James Franey
