Pershing Square sold 20 million shares, and now has a 5.6% stake in the maker of Oreos and Sour Patch Kids, the fund said in an email to investors.
"We are reducing the position size for portfolio management purposes only," Ackman wrote.
Ackman first took a position in Mondelez back in August. He said in the email that Mondelez remains the fund's "largest exposure" even after the sale.
So far this year, shares of Mondelez are down about 7%.
Here's the email:
Dear Pershing Square Investor:
After the close, we completed a block sale of 20 million shares of Mondelez International. As a result of the sale, we now own a 5.6% stake in the company, are the third largest owner, and have substantial uninvested cash. We reduced our stake because Mondelez had become an outsized position in light of its initially large size and its outperformance relative to other holdings. We continue to believe in the potential for operating improvements and margin expansion that we expect will lead to substantial further increases in value. As a result, it remains our largest exposure. We are reducing the position size for portfolio management purposes only.
We have carefully reviewed the balance of our holdings and have concluded that they are appropriately sized. As such, we have no current plans to sell any of our other investments.
Please call the investor relations team or me if you have questions about the above.
Sincerely,
Bill
According to the fund's latest 13-F filing, Pershing Square owned 43.36 million shares at the end of the fourth quarter, making it the fund's 3rd largest position as a percentage of the portfolio.
Pershing Square lost just over $1 billion (on paper) on his position in Valeant Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday. His losses to date on his Valeant investment are estimated at north of $2.5 billion.
Ackman is the largest hedge fund shareholder of Valeant Pharmaceuticals. The hedge fund owns 30,711,122 shares, or a 9% stake. Last week, Pershing Square added shares to its already money-losing position.
Pershing Square Holdings is on track for another big losing year. The fund was last down 19.3% as of March 8. The latest performance data comes out tonight.