So I am reading the NY Times (yea, I do that every so often) and come across the following article on Bill Ackman. Being a fan, I read it.
Then I get to this (bold italics mine):
In the case of General Growth, Mr. Ackman was clear from the start that the company should file for protection from its creditors. He invested last fall, as the financial crisis reached a fever pitch, and for months urged the company to seek bankruptcy. (Pershing has not disclosed the price at which it bought its General Growth stock.) General Growth controls Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston and the South Street Seaport in New York, and Mr. Ackman argues that its properties are worth far more than they are valued on its books.
Has not disclosed the price it paid?
WHAT??!!???!!???!!???!
So , I go to this neat little organization called the SEC and look it up. It took little ‘ole me blogging along 35 seconds to find it so I can understand why an organization with the Times resources thinks IT DOES NOT EXIST!! Here is the link the GGP SEC Filings. Ackman’s will be in 13D section
They also could have found it on my blog here
This post of mine actually has the exact trades Ackman made as of its date
I always knew The Times did shoddy work when it came to its politics, now I guess its business section needs to be included too? How can anyone writing for a business section not know this information is available…..how????
Disclosure (“none” means no position):
10 replies on “NY Times Story on Ackman & It’s Stunning Error”
haha wow that’s laughable!
gotta love the media focusing on cranking out a story without doing enough DD
Hey Todd- love your analysis on GGP. I always look forward to your posts. I was reading comments on:
http://www.distressed-debt-investing.com/
He makes the comment that Pershing’s equity position was a bargaining chip used to put him in a position to give a DIP loan at such advantageous terms and that it should not be considered as an outright long equity position. Do you think that that has any validity?
no…
DIP financing must be court approved… if it is not the best deal for the company, it will be rejected..
Hey Todd, few question for you.
(1) Is there the possibility that Ackman wouldn’t mind if the current equity gets wiped out since he will be issued new shares on the other end of bankruptcy anyway? So, he loses his 25% stake but I believe would be getting much more on the other end with the newly issued shares. Your thoughts?
(2) And what do you think the chances are of the stock dropping to $0.25 in the next couple of weeks? I know this is just a guess but I’m curious as to what you think.
(3) One final question, I know you may not have a hypothesis as BK proceedings are oftentimes unpredictable, but how long do you think GGP’s bankruptcy will last?
Thanks again.
1- he has a problem is that is the case because he has been public saying it does not need be. i also think he would not waste million on the equity if he tought it in peril
2- $.25…i hope so…will e a buyer of more
3- too early to tell. if ggp has been working on it (i assume they have) it may proceed very quickly <1 yr. we will get a better idea once the court proceedings get underway. if majority of debt holder on board with their plan, exit time will not be long off
Do you know when court proceedings are set to begin? Thanks.
ggp said they expect dip financing to be approved “in a couple weeks to a month”. then the rest of the dates are set..the ggp site has the link to the court schedule when it is posted
Wow. Check out the article below. Talk about a ‘stunning error’! Geesh, they think the equity is already all dried up. Here’s hoping this bad ‘news’ drives the price into the $0.25 range.
http://www.thedeal.com/dealscape/2009/04/morgan_stanley_fidelity_pershi.php
http://www.thedeal.com/dealscape/2009/04/morgan_stanley_fidelity_pershi.php
Not sure if the link went through on the last post.
Ugh… looks like the link isn’t copying properly. Anyway, here’s an excerpt. Check out the last sentence…
“General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) was the Titanic of the Real Estate Investment Trust ocean that Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Fidelity Investments and Pershing Square Capital Management L.P thought they could save from sinking. The three put their money into the Chicago-based REIT over the recent near term when its stock continued to swan dive, which culminated in a Chapter 11 filing last week. Now, Morgan Stanley, Fidelity Investments and Pershing Square have nothing to show for their stakes in General Growth but regret.”