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

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman is reportedly delaying the listing of his closely watched Pershing Square U.S. closed-end fund Notice on the NYSE website.

The initial public offering of Pershing Square USA Ltd., which trades under the ticker symbol PSUS, has been delayed until a date to be announced, according to the website. Ackman is now seeking to raise $2.5 billion to $4 billion for the fund, well below the $25 billion he had targeted just a few weeks ago, according to the website. A regulatory filing was made on Thursday.

Pershing Square declined to comment further. The company released A statement “Clarifying news reports,” the company said it was working on an initial public offering and that “a pricing date will be announced soon.”

Closed-end funds sell a set number of shares at the time of their IPO and trade on a market exchange after the IPO. The price of the fund does not necessarily match the net asset value of the shares, so the fund may trade at a premium or discount.

“Transaction size is extremely sensitive,” Ackman said in a July 24 letter to investors that was also included in the filing. “Especially given the novelty of the structure and the very negative trading history of closed-end funds, it would take a great deal of confidence and ultimately careful analysis and judgment on the part of investors to recognize that this closed-end company will trade at a premium post-IPO, something that few companies have historically achieved.”

Pershing Square had $18.7 billion in assets under management as of the end of June. Most of its capital is invested in Pershing Square Holdings, a $15 billion closed-end fund that trades in Europe. Ackman is seeking to list a similar closed-end fund on the New York Stock Exchange, a move that could open up new markets for the firm. He managed the company’s initial public offering (IPO).

The public listing of Ackman’s fund is seen as a move to capitalize on the more than 1 million followers he has amassed on social media platform X, where he comments on issues ranging from anti-Semitism to the presidential election. Closed-end Funds It expects to invest in 12 to 24 large-cap, investment-grade, “durable growth” companies in North America.

In public roadshow presentations, Ackman highlighted the challenges of managing a traditional hedge fund, where investors could withdraw at any time, which would lead to constant fundraising and reassuring investors. The advantage of managing permanent capital is that it allows him to focus more on the portfolio and allows him to take a long-term investment strategy.

“If you want to be a long-term investor in businesses, the challenges of managing a portfolio where money comes and goes are enormous. Actions can have a significant negative impact on returns,” Ackman said.

—CNBC’s Leslie Picker contributed to this article.