Ackman Says ‘You Will Hear More From Us’ on General Growth Sale

Bill Ackman, the hedge-fund manager pushing General Growth Properties Inc. (GGP) to put itself up for sale, isn’t giving up after the mall owner said it plans to remain independent.

“You can expect you will hear more from us on this topic,” Ackman, the head of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, said in a telephone interview today.

Pershing Square, General Growth’s No. 2 shareholder, first urged the landlord on Aug. 23 to form a committee to consider selling the company. Ackman said at the time that Simon Property Group Inc. (SPG) was interested in buying its smaller competitor. General Growth should “initiate negotiations with Simon promptly,” he said in a letter filed Aug. 27 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

General Growth, the second-largest U.S. mall owner, said on Sept. 11 that shareholders would be better off if it continued on its own. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM/A), which holds more than 40 percent of the Chicago-based company and is its biggest investor, also said it didn’t want to sell its stake.

Simon has “no interest in General Growth,” Stephen Sterrett, chief financial officer of the Indianapolis-based company, said on Sept. 11 at a Barclays Plc conference.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Louis in Chicago at blouis1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net