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Bill Ackman’s long-awaited push into public markets is set to debut Wednesday, marking a scaled-back but still ambitious step toward building a Berkshire Hathaway-like investment platform.
The Pershing Square Capital Management founder’s combined initial public offering raised $5 billion, pricing at the low end of expectations after marketing a deal that initially targeted between $5 billion and $10 billion. The haul is a far cry from earlier ambitions floated two years ago to raise as much as $25 billion.
The transaction creates two separately traded entities on the New York Stock Exchange: closed-end fund Pershing Square USA Ltd., which will trade under the ticker PSUS, and asset manager Pershing Square Inc., listed as PS. The dual structure allows investors to gain exposure either to the underlying portfolio or to the management business itself.
“Hedge funds are sort of known for managing money for rich people. And now we have the opportunity for someone with $50, could be a long term shareholder,” Ackman said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” Wednesday. “Usually, the retail gets cut massively back, the institutions are favored. We did the opposite.”
