Ackman Dreams of ‘Modern-Day Berkshire’ With Howard Hughes Bid

Pershing Square Capital Management LP proposed a deal to merge a newly formed subsidiary with Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. in an effort to build the real estate developer into a “modern-day” version of Warren Buffett’s conglomerate.

The investment firm run by Bill Ackman is offering Howard Hughes holders $85 a share, a majority of which would be paid in cash, the company said in the letter to investors posted on its website. That’s a 38.3% premium to Howard Hughes’s stock price in August, when Pershing Square expressed interest in a potential tie-up.

For months, Ackman has been laying ...