Ackman’s Pershing Sued by Investors Over Howard Hughes Deal

Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square is facing a shareholder lawsuit challenging a deal it struck last year with real estate company Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. aimed at eventually creating a business similar to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Ackman “coerced and bullied” Howard Hughes directors into an unfair deal that disadvantaged minority investors, according to a proposed class action lawsuit unsealed on Friday in Delaware Chancery Court. The deal was done at an “unfair” price, which gave Pershing Square “operational and managerial” control over the company, the Howard Hughes investors claimed.