JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and his Israeli-born wife, Neri Oxman, spent $25 million for an equity stake of around 4.9% in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), the Israeli bourse said on Wednesday.
The purchase was part of TASE’s secondary offering of 18.5% of its shares, in which it sold 17.2 million shares at 20.60 shekels per share, for a total of 353.4 million shekels ($95 million).
TASE said net proceeds amounted to 242 million shekels after deducting placing commissions and other offering expenses.
The funds will be used for investment in the stock exchange’s technology infrastructure. The offering is expected to close on Jan. 25, TASE said.
As a prominent hedge fund manager who cemented his fortune by pushing companies ranging from Canadian Pacific Railway to Chipotle Mexican Grill to perform better, Ackman’s investments – both personal and professional – are watched closely by Wall Street and retail investors.
The transaction drew interest from investors across Israel, the United States, Europe and Australia, “reflecting a strong vote of confidence in both the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the Israeli economy at large,” TASE said,
TASE’s share price climbed 7.6% on Wednesday.
The exchange named only Ackman and Oxman among those who had invested.
Ackman, who runs New York-based hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, which returned 27% last year, said his main motivation for the personal investment is a big expected return.
“Owning an exchange in a country with tremendous long-term growth potential is one of the best investments you can make,” Ackman told Reuters. “Investing in the TASE of a ‘Startup Nation’ is precisely that. It represents our support for Israel, and our confidence in its economy and long-term future.”
Ackman has been active in addressing antisemitism broadly and exerted pressure on former Harvard University president Claudine Gay, who resigned as president of Harvard earlier this month. He had criticized her handling of complaints of antisemitism on campus, her congressional testimony, and mounting allegations of plagiarism.
The billionaire fund manager has supported Israel in its war in Gaza following the Oct.7 attacks by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, and is pressing forward with his efforts to reshape Harvard’s governance by backing a bid by four dissident alumni to join its board of overseers.
In the TASE offering, Jefferies served as sole global placement coordinator with Leader Capital Markets acting as local placement coordinator for Israel.
($1 = 3.7322 shekels)
(Reporting by Steven Scheer in Jeruslaem, Shubhendu Deshmukh in Bengaluru and Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil, Miral Fahmy, Alexandra Hudson and Leslie Adler)
