Ackman Capitulates: Sells Entire Valeant Stake; Stock Tumbles

Valeant shares plunged after the close after CNBC’s David Faber first reported that Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman had liquidated his entire stake, and has effectively resigned from the board, saying he won’t stand for re-election. According to Bloomberg, Pershing Square is offering 27.23 million shares via Jefferies, at a price of $11.10-$11.40.
Quoted by Reuters, Ackman had the following brief statement on what may have been his worst ever investment: “It was time to get out of the position, investment required disproportionately large amount of time and resources.”
The stock plunged as much as 10% on the news.
Having spoken to Ackman, CNBC’s Scott Wapner tweets that Bill Ackman said he leaves Valeant ‘in a position where the business can recover.” He adds that Ackman sold the stake ‘because position couldn’t move the needle’ for Pershing Square ‘even if stock doubled from here.’ Ackman also admits that he didn’t realize how bad VRX situation was until he joined the board.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Mar 13, 2017.