There might be a simple reason Bill Ackman’s former antagonists Dan Loeb and Carl Icahn are making up with the iconoclastic silver-haired activist: He’s making gobs of money again.
Here’s the scoreboard, according to investors:
Ackman’s Pershing Square: up about 8 percent in April and almost 20 percent for the year.
Loeb’s Third Point: down 1.4 percent in April, up 1.9 percent this year.
Icahn’s Icahn Enterprises: down 1.7 percent in April and 11 percent for the year.
Much of Ackman’s stunning performance last month was due to a 34 percent gain for Allergan.
While perhaps not as controversial as Herbalife, it certainly has raised eyebrows.
Ackman spent more than $3 billion to take a 9.7 percent stake in the company and is working with Valeant to buy the drugmaker. Ackman’s tactic wasn’t insider trading, he explained, because Valeant gave him the information willingly.
Loeb’s battle with Sotheby’s is not going well. The stock fell almost 4 percent in April and is down more than 20 percent for 2014.