The long-awaited initial public offerings (IPOs) from popular hedge fund manager Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square finally hit the market on Wednesday, as the twin listings debuted on the New York Stock Exchange. Together, the double IPO raised $5 billion, coming in at the low end of a range that stretched up to $10 billion.
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Pershing Square IPOs Go Live in New York
The IPOs created two separately traded entities: a new closed-end fund, Pershing Square USA, trading under the ticker PSUS, and the investment company Pershing Square Inc. (PS). The public market debut comes as Ackman — a longtime devotee of popular investor Warren Buffett — continues to reiterate his ambition to model the firm on Buffett’s six-decade leadership at the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) investment conglomerate.
PSUS went public at $50 per share, a figure targeted at attracting both institutional and retail participation. Although both are trading separately, the offering was structured in a way that gives investors in the closed-end fund access to bonus shares in the asset management company.
Closed-End Fund Raises $2.8B Pre-IPO
The combined $5 billion raise comes as earlier reports have indicated that the IPOs will debut at the low end of the range despite oversubscription to the offering, with about 85% of the demand coming from institutional investors.
Meanwhile, ahead of the IPO, the closed-end fund raised about $2.8 billion in capital commitments from private placements. Participants included family offices, pension funds, and insurance companies.
With the IPO, Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square is offering investors a way to bank on both the company and its managed fund or just one of the two. Ackman is prominent on Wall Street for leading a hedge fund that has significantly outperformed the benchmark S&P 500 index over the last two decades in terms of return to investors.
Which Other IPOs Are On the Way?
TipRanks shows that several other companies also made their public debut today in both New York, with others lined up for tomorrow and the days ahead.
