Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Moves to Take Howard Hughes Private
By Mark Hallum August 8, 2024 12:15 pm
reprints
Howard Hughes Holdings (HHH) is at a crossroads with its majority shareholder, Pershing Square Capital Management, making moves to take the corporation private.
HHH has formed a special committee to evaluate any proposal from Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square and its shareholder allies, as well as any alternatives that will keep the development firm publicly traded, according to the corporation.
“The company’s board of directors is aware of Pershing Square’s filing and has formed a special committee comprised of independent directors to review any proposal by Pershing Square, as and when received, and evaluate it in light of other strategic alternatives that may be available to HHH, including continuing to operate as a publicly traded company,” HHH said in a release. “The board and the special committee are committed to acting in the best interests of HHH and its stockholders.”
HHH and Pershing Square did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ackman’s London-based group submitted a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on late Wednesday to buy 62 percent of the remaining HHH shares it doesn’t already own and then potentially take it private, according to MarketWatch. Pershing Square already owns 37.5 percent of outstanding common stock.
The proposal comes just weeks after Howard Hughes Corporation’s board voted in favor of officially dividing Seaport Entertainment from HHH, both subsidiaries of the corporation, in order to allow HHH to focus on real estate — specifically building master-planned communities — and offload debt from its books while Seaport would focus primarily on hospitality ventures.
Seaport is heavily invested in Las Vegas as it owns the Aviators baseball team, a 25 percent stake in Jean-Georges Restaurants, and an 80 percent ownership interest in the air rights above Fashion Show mall.
It is also developing almost 400 units of housing at 250 Water Street in the South Street Seaport historic district of Lower Manhattan, which got snarled in litigation by preservation groups claiming that the tower violated the 1977 designation by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Courts rejected the challenge in May, allowing the project to move forward.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
