Bill Ackman To Use Pershing Square IPO Funds For 'New Commitment'

Like the "death blow" he promised to Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) in July, Bill Ackman's initial public offering of his Pershing Square Holdings failed to live up to its billings Monday as shares closed down nearly 10 percent below the net value of its assets.

But that didn't stop the 48-year-old activist hedge-fund manager from telling the world Monday he plans to take a "decent-sized stake" in a U.S. company, that will be announced before year-end.

"The cash that we've raised we intend to use for a new commitment," Ackman told Bloomberg Television. About a third of the $18 billion in assets controlled by Ackman are now part of the publicly traded fund, which is separate from his Pershing Square Capital Management.

Pershing Square Holdings, established in 2012, raised a reported $3 billion through its public offering as well as related private placements. Its shares opened Monday on the Euronext at $25 per share and closed at $22 per share, off nearly 11 percent.

A "new commitment" wouldn't be wholly unexpected from Ackman, who makes his living by taking decent-sized stakes in U.S. companies and then often forcing them to reorganize.

The Harvard graduate and native of tony Chappaqua, New York, rang the opening bell Monday at Amsterdam's Euronext exchange where Pershing Square Holdings is listed, and compared himself with Warren Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.