Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Takes 5% Stake In Valeant Pharmaceuticals

Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, acquired a $3.3 billion stake in Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc VRX, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. With this stake, the fund holds about 5 percent of the company's shares outstanding and is now the company's fifth-largest stockholder, trailing Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, Jeffrey Ubben's ValueAct Holdings L.P., T. Rowe Price Associates, and FMR LLC.

The stock was up 2.5 percent on Monday afternoon.

The source said that Pershing Square does not intend to press the management for change, but rather to take a passive approach to the company.

"Ackman's $20 billion Pershing Square Capital Management began building up the 5 percent stake in the Canadian drug maker this year, only months after his vocal effort to help Valeant buy Botox-maker Allergan, Inc. failed," Reuters reported. "While working with Valeant on the takeover bid, Ackman could not buy Valeant shares. All restrictions fell away when the deal fell through, leaving him able to buy in, paying just under $200 per share initially, the source said."