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Ackman's fund sells 5 mln Valeant shares to generate tax loss

Published 2015-12-31, 05:03 p/m
© Reuters. Ackman's fund sells 5 mln Valeant shares to generate tax loss
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BOSTON, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor William
Ackman said on Thursday he has sold roughly 5 million shares in
drug company Valeant International VRX.TO in order to generate
a tax loss as investors in his Pershing Square (N:SQ) Capital
Management face the biggest loss in the company's history.
Ackman's hedge fund now owns 29.1 million shares in Valeant,
or 8.5 percent of the company, down from 34.1 million shares, or
9.9 percent, according to a regulatory filing made after the
market closed on Thursday, the last trading day of 2015.
Pershing Square sold shares in its two on-shore portfolios
in order to generate a tax loss for their investors while the
two off-shore portfolios did not sell any shares, the filing
said.
News that Ackman, one of Valeant's biggest and most vocal
backers, sold some of his shares comes at the tail end of a
tumultuous year for the Canadian pharmaceutical company, whose
share price had surged and then plummeted amid questions about
its drug pricing and accounting practices.
The company, after disclosing last week that its chief
executive officer, Michael Pearson (L:PSON), had been hospitalized with
severe pneumonia, this week named a trio of company executives
to take over until Pearson returns.
Ackman was not available for comment, and a company
spokesman declined to say anything beyond the filing.
For Ackman, 2015 is sure to be one of his worst years ever,
in part because of the heavy losses in Valeant. One of Ackman's
funds posted a 19.7 percent loss through Dec. 29. Final
calculations for all of the firm's funds have not been made.
Valeant shares closed the year down 22 percent, at $101.67,
at less than half the year's high of $260 reached in early
August.

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