Bill Ackman Exercises Warrants and Buys 4 Mln Platform Specialty Products Corporation (PAH) Shares

Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square increased holding of Platform Specialty Products Corporation (NYSE:PAH). A Form 4 filing with the SEC shows that the fund bought 4.2 million shares by exercising 12.5 million warrants with a conversion ratio of 1 share for 3 warrants and a conversion price of $11.50, significantly lower than the company’s current market price. As a result, Pershing Square upped its stake in Platform to 33.33 million shares from the 29.17 million shares acquired earlier this year, now owning 32.2% of the common stock.

Platform Specialty Products Corporation (NYSE:PAH) is a global producer of high-technology specialty chemical products and provider of technical services. Since the company began trading on NYSE, its stock price grew steadily ranging from $11.75 to $22.35. Platform is expected to generate revenues of $750 million in 2014 and trades at a  Forward P/E of around 37. The mean analyst recommendation for the stock is “Buy”.

John Griffin‘s Blue Ridge Capital last month also revealed a new stake in Platform Specialty Products Corporation (NYSE:PAH), owning 8.0 million shares, which amount to 7.72% of the common stock of the company. Another significant shareholder of Platform is Stanhope Investments, holding 18.3 million shares that represent a share of 17.65% of the common stock.

Ackman’s Pershing Square has a very concentrated equity portfolio, with almost half of its value invested in Services and the rest in Consumer Goods, Financial, and Basic Materials. The highest holding in the portfolio (31.54%) amounts to 17.2 million shares worth $2.6 billion in Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP), followed by 20.55 million shares worth $2.3 billion in Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD), with a share of 27.90% in the portfolio. Recently, the fund has significantly reduced its holding of 20.82 million shares worth $1.4 billion in BEAM Inc (NYSE:BEAM) to 11.67 million shares worth almost $1.0 billion .

Disclosure: none

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