Hedge-fund boss makes new offer for Summerlin developer
New York billionaire Bill Ackman has made a new offer to buy up shares in Summerlin developer Howard Hughes Holdings.
The parent company of Ackman’s hedge-fund operator Pershing Square Capital Management announced Tuesday that it submitted a revised proposal to acquire 10 million newly issued shares in Hughes Holdings for $900 million.
Under the deal, the investment firm’s ownership stake in the developer would climb from 37.6 percent to 48 percent, and Ackman would become chairman and chief executive of Hughes Holdings.
His cash infusion also would enable the developer to “immediately” start pursuing deals to acquire controlling stakes in companies as part of its “new strategy of becoming a diversified holding company,” according to a news release from Pershing Square.
A presentation on the offer is scheduled to stream live on Ackman’s X account at 6 a.m. PST Wednesday.
Texas-based Hughes Holdings on Tuesday evening confirmed that its board received the new offer and said there can be no assurance that it will pursue the deal.
Shortly before his firm announced the offer, Ackman wrote on X that it would give his group the opportunity to create a modern-day version of Berkshire Hathaway, the famed conglomerate led by Nebraska billionaire Warren Buffett.
“Fortunately, our starting base of assets won’t be a dying textile company, but a very good business,” Ackman wrote, alluding to Berkshire’s history.
Last month, Ackman offered to buy out other stockholders in Hughes Holdings for $1 billion total.
The new proposal replaces the previous one, which has been withdrawn, Pershing Square said.
Hughes Holdings’ principal subsidiary “will continue on its mission” to develop and grow master-planned communities, Ackman wrote on X on Tuesday.
His investment firm also said the unit would “remain unchanged” with the same strategic direction and senior leadership.
Overall, Hughes Holdings has projects and properties in Texas, Arizona, Hawaii, Maryland and Nevada.
Spanning 22,500 acres along the Las Vegas Valley’s western rim, Summerlin boasts 120,000-plus residents, some of the highest home prices in Southern Nevada and a network of parks, trails and community centers.
Hughes Holdings sells land in Summerlin to homebuilders and has developed hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of projects in the heart of Las Vegas’ biggest master-planned community.
Its namesake Howard Hughes, the famed aviator, business tycoon and recluse, acquired the land now known as Summerlin in the 1950s.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342.
