Pershing Square (PSH) fund manager Bill Ackman “coerced and bullied” the directors of US real estate firm Howard Hughes into selling his firm Pershing Square Capital Management $900m of new shares last May, lifting its stake to nearly 47%, according to a class action lawsuit filed by the Charter Township of Shelby Fire & Police pension scheme in Delaware last week. Bloomberg reported that the claim by the Howard Hughes shareholder was that the sale was done at an “unfair” price and gave Pershing Square “operational and managerial” control over the company, which Ackman wants to turn into a corporate investment vehicle in the style of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. In December PSH, a £7.7bn London-listed hedge fund, provided £750m to Howard Hughes’ acquisition of an insurer. A Pershing Square spokesperson told Bloomberg the lawsuit was “entirely without merit.”
Partners Group Private Equity (PEY) saw net asset value fall 2.8% in December as a result of two valuation cuts to portfolio holdings and the dollar’s weakness against the euro, taking its total 2025 decline to 8.7%. It said Ammega, a global leader in belting solutions, was confronted with continued industry-wide softer trading performance but still demonstrated operational resilience. Pharmathen, a contract drug developer and manufacturer organization, experienced a “disruption” in its long-acting injectables manufacturing operations. Shares in the £662m investment company have been flat in the past year and stand on a wide 27% discount to net asset value. It received €57.7m of distributions in December, of which €42.3m came from the sale of a 20% stake in International Schools Partnership. In November, the company had to write down the valuation of Mexican gas pipeline operator Esentia Energy after its disappointing flotation.
Ceiba Investments (CBA), the £40m Cuban commercial property fund, believes it has gained the agreement of bond holders to extend their loans by 12 months and to issue more shares at a discount to net asset value. This is to avoid the company defaulting on a bond repayment next month and to address a slump in income caused by President Trump’s “potentially catastrophic” sanctions against the island. Holders of at least 60% of the bonds must vote in favour of the extraordinary resolutions at a meeting later this month. If approved, the interest rate on the bonds will increase to 15%.
Sequoia Economic Infrastructure (SEQI) said it was “not exposed to any material contagion risk” from the recent sell-off in software stocks over the potential threat from artificial intelligence (AI) tools. After the payment of the last 1.7p per share quarterly dividend, net asset value (NAV) dipped 1.5p to 93.05p in January. This leaves the £1.2bn, 8.6%-yielding loan fund on a 15% discount.
Real Estate Credit Investments (RECI) invested £15m into a Bank of New York money market fund last month with a current yield of 3.6%. It also made a £4.3m commitment to a senior loan for the development of a flexible living scheme in Spain. Net asset value per share rose 0.7p to 140.8p as a result of investment income. The £280m property debt fund yields 9.5% and stands on a 10.7% discount.
Stay a step ahead. Our daily newsletter brings you the latest on investment trusts and active ETFs. Subscribe here.
