For weeks, it was a guessing game on Wall Street: Which big company had caught the fancy of William A. Ackman, the activist hedge fund manager?
The answer, revealed on Wednesday, was hardly a household name: Air Products and Chemicals, a producer of industrial gases. Mr. Ackman’s firm, Pershing Square Capital Management, says it has acquired a 9.8 percent stake, valued at $2.2 billion, in the company.
Shares of Air Products rose more than 4 percent in trading before the market opened on Wednesday. The stock closed at $105.61 a share on Tuesday.
The bet is the largest Pershing Square has made. And it might have been larger, according to CNBC, if the company had not adopted a shareholder rights plan known as a poison pill.
Air Products adopted the poison pill last week after it noticed “unusual and substantial activity†in its shares. The plan sets up a hurdle for any investor looking to acquire a stake in the company of 10 percent or more.
Speculation about Mr. Ackman’s intentions began after reports that the investor was raising a new $1 billion pool of money. In a letter to investors earlier this month, Mr. Ackman described his target as a large-capitalization, investment-grade corporation in the United States, according to Bloomberg News.
Air Products, which is based in Allentown, Pa., says it is the world’s largest supplier of hydrogen and helium. Founded in 1940, the company has about 20,000 employees and operates in 50 countries. It reported about $10 billion of revenue and $1.5 billion in operating income for last year.
Mr. Ackman described the company as “Buffett-like,†referring to Warren E. Buffett, according to CNBC , which earlier reported the investment.
The hedge fund manager has had a mixed record this year, losing money on his $1 billion bet against the nutritional supplements company Herbalife and experiencing setbacks at J.C. Penney, another large investment.
But another large investment, Canadian Pacific Railway, may offer clues as to his approach with Air Products. After acquiring a stake in the company, Mr. Ackman waged a successful proxy contest that led to the resignation of several board members and the chief executive last year.
Air Products has had its own brush with deal-making. The company in 2010 made a hostile bid for Airgas that it ultimately withdrew in the face of the target company’s poison pill defense.
