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Howard Hughes to Buy Vantage for $2.1 Billion as Ackman Drives Pivot to Insurance

Closing is targeted for the second quarter of 2026 pending regulatory approvals.

Overview

  • Howard Hughes will fund the purchase with about $1.5 billion of cash plus up to $1 billion of non‑interest‑bearing, non‑voting preferred shares sold to Pershing Square.
  • The preferred is split into 14 tranches that Howard Hughes can repurchase annually over seven years at the greater of the issue price plus 4% per year or 1.5 times Vantage’s book value.
  • Pershing Square will manage roughly $2.8 billion of Vantage’s invested assets at no fee and expects to increase the allocation to common equities.
  • The price implies roughly 1.4 to 1.5 times Vantage’s estimated year‑end 2025 book value, according to company disclosures and reporting.
  • Howard Hughes and Bill Ackman describe the deal as the anchor for a Berkshire‑style holding company strategy, with Vantage’s specialty insurance platform adding scale after writing about $1.2 billion in net premiums over the past year.