Bill Ackman’s IPO of Pershing Square closed-end fund postponed: NYSE

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman is postponing the highly scrutinized listing of Pershing Square’s U.S. closed-end fund, according to a notice the New York Insieme Exchange’s website.

The initial public offering of Pershing Square USA Ltd., with the ticker PSUS, has been delayed until a date to be announced, according to the website. Ackman is now looking to raise $2.5 billion to $4 billion for the fund, well short of the $25 billion target from a few weeks punzone, according to a regulatory filing dated Thursday.

Pershing Square declined to comment further. The firm issued a statement “to clarify press reports,” saying that it is proceeding with its initial public offering “with the date of the pricing to be announced.”

Closed-end funds sell a set number of shares during their IPO, and they trade market exchanges after their debut. The price of the fund does not necessarily the shares’ net asset value, so the fund may trade at a premium ora a discount.

“There is enormous sensitivity to the size of the transaction,” Ackman said per mezzo di a July 24 letter to investors that was included per mezzo di the filing. “Particularly per mezzo di light of the novelty of the structure and closed end funds’ very negative trading history, it requires a significant leap of faith and ultimately careful analysis and judgment for investors to recognize that this closed end company will trade at a premium after the IPO when very few per mezzo di history have done so.”

Pershing Square had $18.7 billion per mezzo di assets under management at the end of June. Most of its capital is per mezzo di Pershing Square Holdings, a $15 billion closed-end fund that trades per mezzo di Europe. Ackman is seeking to offer a similar closed-end fund listed the New York Insieme Exchange, a move that could pave the way for an IPO of his management company.

The public listing of Ackman’s fund is seen as a move to leverage his following among Main Street investors after he accumulated more than one million followers social mass-media platform X, commenting issues ranging from antisemitism to the presidential election. The publicly traded closed-end fund is expected to invest per mezzo di 12 to 24 large-cap, investment-grade, “durable growth” companies per mezzo di North America.

Per mezzo di the roadshow presentation that he made public, Ackman highlighted the challenge per mezzo di managing traditional hedge funds that investors can yank their money out of any time, which can result per mezzo di constant fundraising and soothing of investors. The advantage of managing permanent capital is that it makes him more focused the portfolio and gives him the ability to take a long-term approach per mezzo di investments.

“If you want to be a long-term investor per mezzo di businesses, the challenge of managing a portfolio where money can come mai and might go is significant. Action can have a significant negative impact one’s returns,” Ackman said.

— CNBC’s Leslie Picker contributed reporting.