When Bill Ackman decided to list Pershing Square in London in March 2017, the investment vehicle was already quoted in Amsterdam and the billionaire hedge fund investor wanted to improve the trading liquidity of its shares and to narrow the discount at which it was trading relative to the net value of its assets.
Investors clamoured for the shares at the time, largely because of Mr Ackman’s reputation for successfully kicking up the dust at underperforming companies, but the fund’s track record initially was distinctly patchy. After a poor 2017, Mr Ackman oversaw a back-to-basics campaign last year that now could be paying off.
Pershing Square is an open-ended investment vehicle set up in 2012 by Pershing Square Capital Management, the Delaware-incorporated hedge fund manager