William A. Ackman is playing corporate matchmaker.
The hedge fund manager reiterated on Monday his position that General Growth Properties, a Chicago-based mall operator, should consider selling itself. Shareholders would benefit if the company were combined with the Simon Property Group, Mr. Ackman said at the Value Investing Congress in Midtown Manhattan.
“I think this thing is ripe for the public to take a very hard look at,†he said.
Mr. Ackman, whose fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, is a major investor in General Growth has pushed for changes during its bankruptcy. He said on Monday that an announced deal could send the company's stock price to around $29 a share by the end of the year. The stock, which closed Monday just above $19, rose in after-hours trading as Mr. Ackman spoke.
General Growth's stock price shot upward in August after Mr. Ackman revealed his merger proposal, but it then fell in September after the company said i t would remain independent.
As for the Simon Property Group, it has offered to buy General Growth in the past, but the chief financial officer recently said the company was not interested in a deal.
Still, Mr. Ackman said he was “quite confident†that Simon would make a bid.
“We don't usually push for sales of companies,†Mr. Ackman said on Monday.
Complicating matters is Brookfield Asset Management, which is steadily increasing its own stake in General Growth, Mr. Ackman said. He criticized Brookfield, at one point highlighting a letter in which the chief executive compared the company's investing style against that of Warren E. Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway.
“I know Berkshire Hathaway, and Brookfield is no Berkshire Hathaway,†Mr. Ackman said, to laughter from the audience.
During the question-and-answer session, Mr. Ackman discussed his other well-known investments in J. C. Penney and Procter & Gamble. He also said he had a new short-selling idea, which he said he might decide to reveal in the future.
“Shorts are even more fun than longs,†the hedge fund manager said.
