Howard Hughes Corp. chairman Bill Ackman offers to sell shares

Bill Ackman, chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, speaks during the New York Times DealBook conference in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016. The event brings together CEOs, leading figures in finance, and experts from diverse industries to assess the challenges and opportunities that will define the deal world of tomorrow. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Hedge-fund billionaire Bill Ackman, chairman and largest shareholder of The Howard Hughes Corp., wants to sell a big chunk of his stake in the company.

Dallas-based Howard Hughes, developer of Las Vegas’ Summerlin community and other U.S. projects, announced Tuesday that Ackman’s Pershing Square Holdings Ltd. and Pershing Square LP plan to offer for sale 2.5 million shares of Hughes stock.

If Ackman sold the shares at Tuesday’s closing price, he would generate $332.1 million in proceeds.

Howard Hughes stock ended Tuesday trading on the New York Stock Exchange at $132.84 per share, up 1.2 percent, or $1.57, but dropped 3.46 percent, or $4.59, to $128.25 after hours.

Ackman owned almost 5.5 million shares, or 13.6 percent of Howard Hughes common stock as of March, according to a securities filing.

After the proposed sale, he would own 5.1 percent of Hughes stock, his group said Tuesday.

Summerlin spans 22,500 acres along the Las Vegas Valley’s western rim and has more than 100,000 residents. Howard Hughes also has properties and projects in Hawaii, Texas and New York, among other places.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.