Pershing Square Capital Management’s William Ackman may be best known these days for his high-profile short position in the multi-level marketing company Herbalife. But Ackman has had more winners than losers in his portfolio in recent years, among them Canadian Pacific, which has tripled since Ackman invested in the stock in 2011. On Tuesday Ackman said he plans to unload about 29 percent of his stake in the railroad company, selling as many as 7 million shares from June 10 through the next six to 12 months. In a statement, Ackman said he became concerned that his stake had grown to 26 percent of his assets.
---
The Credit Suisse Liquid Alternative Beta Index, which tries to reflect the performance of the overall hedge fund industry, was flat in May. So far this year it is up 3 percent. The merger arbitrage strategy led the way in May, posting a 1.25 percent gain and 5.50 percent for the year.
--
It was not a good day for a couple of major discount retail chains and the hedge funds who are invested heavily with them. For example, shares of Dollar General sank more than 9 percent after the company lowered its guidance for the year. At the end of the first quarter, Stephen Mandel Jr.’s Lone Pine Capital was the third largest shareholder, with more than 14 million shares. Remember, on Monday Lone Pine took a beating in its large stake in Trip Advisor. Meanwhile, rival Family Dollar Stores fell more than 2 percent on Tuesday. Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management is the largest investor with nearly 9 million shares.
---
Tiger Global sold about 800,000 shares of TAL Education Group, reducing its stake to 22.5 percent.
---
Office Depot said it agreed to sell its half of its Latin American joint venture to Grupo Gigante SAB for about $690 million in cash. This was a big priority for activist hedge fund Starboard Value, which has launched a proxy fight in a bid to secure four seats on the company’s board of directors. Other investors, however, were not too happy with the deal. The stock fell 2.7 percent on the news.
