Ackman's Pershing Square Trims Valeant Position for Tax Savings
- Activist investor cuts his fund's stake to 8.5% from 9.9%
- Shares battered by controversies over drug prices, pharmacies
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Bill Ackman, the activist investor who has been a staunch defender of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., trimmed his fund’s holdings of the stock for tax reasons.
Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management sold about 5 million shares of Valeant in order to create a tax loss for investors in two accounts, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday. The fund retained its stake in two accounts that wouldn’t get the same tax advantage. Annual losses on investments can be used to lower investors’ total U.S. taxes in some cases, according tothe Internal Revenue Service.