When Bill Ackman talked about Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), people used to listen, but now, it seems like they’ve started ignoring what they see as the same old, same old. His firm Pershing Square has announced yet another report regarding Herbalife, this time dealing with its business practices in China.
Pershing Square to hold conference call on Herbalife
Today Pershing Square issued a press release stating that it will hold a conference call about its investigation into Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)’s business practices in China. Ackman’s firm said they would be providing evidence that the nutritional supplements company is “operating in violation of Chinese law.”
In addition, the press release indicated that they would again be leveling the same argument against Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF): that it’s a pyramid scheme. Ackman will also use their findings about Herbalife’s practices in China to say that the company operates in “the rest of the world” in a similar fashion.
Ackman tries to chip away at Herbalife
Bill Ackman has been trying to discredit Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) since late 2012 when he initially announced his big short position in the company. Since then he has rearranged that position, but he isn’t giving up on his belief that the company is a pyramid scheme. Regulators don’t seem to want to touch Herbalife, in spite of his complaints and the calls for an investigation which are coming from lawmakers and minority-focused organizations.
So far, Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) has been Bill Ackman’s worst bet in ten years, and his publicly announced short of the company merely drew attention to it. Since then, the company has continually beat earnings expectations, and investors have been rewarding it for its efforts. Ackman’s latest strategy has been to target individual distributors of Herbalife products, so it will be interesting to see what he has to say about the company’s Chinese operations and whether the evidence is different than what he has already presented.
