Bill Ackman's Firm Pershing Square Postpones Public Listing

By Jose Resurreccion

Jul 28 2024, 09:00 AM EDT

CEO and Portfolio Manager Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. William Ackman speaks at The New York Times DealBook Conference at Jazz at Lincoln Center on November 10, 2016 in New York City. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for The New York Times

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman's firm Pershing Square announced late Friday (July 26) that it was postponing its initial public offering (IPO).

The company made the announcement, saying in a statement that it would be delayed until a new date would be announced. The New York Stock Exchange also confirmed the action in a notice on its website.

As of June 2024, Pershing Square had $18.7 billion in assets under its management, with at least $15 billion of its capital held by Pershing Square Holdings, a closed-end fund trading in Europe.

Ackman Cites IPO Delay to Lack of Funds

Prior to the announcement, a regulatory filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Ackman was looking to raise $2.5 billion to $4 billion to boost the fund needed to go public.

According to CNBC, close-ended funds sell a set number of shares during a company's IPO, and that it trades on market exchanges after its debut.

Ackman said in a July 24 letter to investors that was included in the SEC filing that there was an "enormous sensitivity" to the size of the IPO transaction.

It is understood that the public listing of Ackman's fund was seen as a move to leverage his influence on investors, especially after gaining over a million followers on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, for his commentary on public issues from antisemitism to the US presidential election in November.