'Think Brookfield, Think Blackstone': Ackman's Vision For Howard Hughes

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Howard Hughes Holdings Executive Chairman Bill Ackman is charting a new course for the real estate developer, one that takes a cue from Berkshire Hathaway and Blackstone.

“Think Brookfield, think Blackstone — the typical real estate investor puts up very little of their own money,” Ackman told Bloomberg. "We’re going to begin a process immediately to bring in partners to reduce our equity commitment to our real estate by as much as 80% and then turn Howard Hughes into more of a real estate asset management business with a lot of skin in the game."

The company is in the process of hiring advisers to navigate future joint ventures, Ackman said at a Wednesday meeting of Howard Hughes shareholders.

The move to bring in partners is a big change for HHH, which has traditionally financed its acquisitions without other people's money, Ackman said at the shareholders meeting.

"Chairman Bill Ackman was candid HHH never got its cost of capital low enough to earn a spread on its real estate, damaging the stock’s performance in recent years," Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Goldfarb wrote in a Wednesday note to investors. "

The new strategy could help close the gap between the company's roughly $75 share price and its estimated $104 intrinsic value, Goldfarb wrote.

In addition to raising capital from outside sources, Ackman has also been moving Howard Hughes toward another Berkshire hallmark: insurance company ownership.

The model worked wonders for Berkshire and was the foundation of its rise as it provided, through insurance premiums, cash for acquisitions, according to Bloomberg. Howard Hughes already took a step in that direction earlier this year, acquiring insurer and reinsurer Vantage Group Holdings over the summer.

Ackman said Vantage's longer-term Treasurys were sold off and the money from that put into stocks with the goal of eventually having about 45% of Vantage's assets in stocks, according to Bloomberg.

Howard Hughes stock was trading at $71.10 on Thursday afternoon, up approximately 6.7% over the past five days.

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