By Eric Martin
William Ackman said he bought shares of Corrections Corp. of America, giving his Pershing Square Capital Management LP hedge fund a 9.5 percent stake in the biggest U.S. operator of private prisons.
“We’re in with two feet,” Ackman said today at the Value Investing Congress in New York. “You’ve got a real estate company, in our opinion, with the government as a tenant. We think this is a business that has very significant growth. It’s going to do well in any economic environment, as long as people commit crimes and as long as we punish them.”
The 43-year-old investor said demand for private prisons will increase. Corrections Corp. shares are worth $40 to $54 a share, Ackman said.
Corrections Corp. shares climbed 5 percent to $25.67 in New York, the biggest advance since Aug. 6. Ackman said he paid more than $24.50 a share.
Continue reading Ackman Says Pershing Owns 9.5% of Corrections Corp.
To Read Catherine’s description of how Wall Street makes money on trading prison company securities and how the stocks trade on a “per bed” basis, read “Dillon Read & the Aristocracy of Stock Profits.”
