by Paula Schaap ,Senior Reporter , October 11, 2010
After hedge fund manager Bill Ackman lost a hard-fought proxy battle with Target last year, he went radio silent for a time.
Unusual for a hedge fund manager, Ackman, who manages about $3.5 billion at Pershing Square Capital Management, was very vocal and open with the media during his Target campaign.
This year, Ackman may be clamming up with the media, but that doesn’t mean he’s changed his activist stripes.
Last week, the hedge fund manager revealed a 16.5% stake in retailer J.C. Penney Co. He also has a nearly 11% stake in consumer conglomerate Fortune Brands.
Fortune Brands’ has three divisions that encompass liquor distribution, golf and home hardware and security. The odd match suggests that Ackman might pressure the company to spinoff some of its holdings.
Fortune Brands opened Monday at $55.35 per share, essentially flat from Friday’s close at $55.85.
Ackman’s filings for both J.C. Penney and Fortune say that their stock was undervalued and that he was going to hold discussions with company management and shareholders; which is activist hedge fund manager speak for proxy battle.
The J.C. Penney filing had the added fillip of a statement that Pershing Square might ally with commercial real estate company Vornado Realty Trust, which said in a regulatory filing it had about 10% of the retailer.
Besides all that activity, Ackman is also involved with the foreclosure auction of the huge Manhattan apartment complex Stuyvesant Town.
Ackman, who with Winthrop Realty Trust, owns about $300 million of debt on the property, went into court to try to wrest control away from CW Capital, which services the $3 billion mortgage that is in foreclosure.
Ackman’s suit was tossed out of court, but he is still enough of a force to be reckoned with that the auction was put off while he negotiates with CW Capital.
Source: www.hedgefund.net
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