Bill Ackman eyes dual public offerings for Pershing Square and new fund, WSJ reports

(Reuters) -Billionaire investor Bill Ackman plans to take his hedge-fund firm Pershing Square and a new investment fund public early next year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The move would mark a significant milestone for the activist investor whose elaborate commentary on finance and politics is closely watched in New York as well as Washington. The new fund, Pershing Square USA, is set to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange and will offer investors free shares in Pershing Square as an incentive, the WSJ said. The report added that partners could give away up to 10% of Pershing Square shares, which may value the firm well above a valuation of $10.5 billion in 2024. The Financial Times reported earlier on Friday that Ackman was preparing a listing of Pershing Square, without mentioning any other plans. Talks for the listings are preliminary and could ultimately be delayed or not lead to a public offering depending on the market conditions, both newspapers said. Pershing Square declined to comment on the FT report. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the WSJ report. After the busiest fall IPO season in the U.S. in four years, filing processes were disrupted by the longest-ever shutdown of the federal government in Washington. Founded by Ackman in January 2004, Pershing Square Capital Management invests in roughly a dozen stocks and is best known for its activist campaigns. The FT and WSJ reports rekindle listing hopes for Pershing Square after a 10% stake sale for $1.05 billion last year, which Reuters reported was a precursor to a potential initial public offering. If Pershing proceeds with a listing, it would join a small club of publicly traded alternative asset managers. While private equity giants like Blackstone and KKR have thrived in public markets, pure-play hedge funds have had a mixed record because of the unpredictability of their earnings. British hedge fund Man Group is set to post its third negative year in four years, while Ackman's Europe-listed hedge fund Pershing Square Holdings is up nearly 21% this year. Blue Owl Capital, which Ackman has previously likened to the structure of his own business, is down nearly 40% this year amid credit market jitters. (Reporting by Ateev Bhandari and Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Tom Hogue)

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