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Pershing Square to propose real estate transaction by Target

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 10/28/2008 1:53:00 PM

New York – Activist investor William Ackman will mount a public presentation tomorrow as his firm Pershing Square Capital Management proposes a real estate transaction he thinks Target should undertake.

Ackman’s prompting was instrumental in moving Target to sell about half its credit-card receivables to JPMorgan Chase earlier this year in a deal valued at $3.6 billion.

In a press release, Pershing Square said the presentation “will be of particular interest to investors and analysts focused on retail, real estate, fixed income and credit.”

For its part, Target released a statement asserting that since May 2008, “Pershing Square has shared various ideas for an alternative ownership structure related to Target real estate. Target has been evaluating these ideas with the assistance of outside advisors, including Goldman Sachs.”

The Target statement quoted Gregg Steinhafel, ceo and president, as saying, “Target has a strong record of engagement and open dialogue with shareholders over many years. We respect the spirit with which these ideas were presented, and will share our perspective with the financial community in the near future.”

In the Pershing Square release, a civil tone of cooperation was just as evident: “Target's thoughtful and constructive approach with shareholders has been instrumental to Pershing Square's work in developing a potential transaction. Pershing Square believes that the insights gained by sharing the potential transaction in a public forum will benefit Target and all of its stakeholders.”

The Pershing Square presentation will take place at the AXA Equitable Auditorium, 787 Seventh Ave. at 51st Street here. Registration begins at 12:30 p.m., with the presentation to start at 1:30 p.m. A live webcast will be available at www.visualwebcaster.com/pstgt and an audio broadcast will also be provided, by dialing 1-866-682-9100 (internationally by dialing +1-201-499-0417), with the participant access code of 2629412.

Pershing Square reported in July 2007 it had acquired 9.6% of Target common shares, and affirmed today that his has “beneficially acquired slightly less than 10% of the company's outstanding common stock.”

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