Valeant in freefall as Ackman cuts his losses

14 March 2017

Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX.TSX) has suffered a fresh setback in the stock market on the news that US investor William Ackman has sold his hedge fund’s 5.3% stake in the company.

Mr Ackman’s Pershing Square Holdings lost more than 90% of the $3.2 billion investment it made in March 2015, when the drugmaker’s share price was worth $196 and when Michael Pearson was its chief executive.

By the time markets closed on Monday, when Pershing Square announced that it was pulling out of Valeant, that same share was worth just $12.11, reflecting what a disastrous couple of years it has been for the Quebec-based company.

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