Ackman’s Pershing Square SPAC Asks Judge to Toss Investor Suit

Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd. said a federal judge should throw out a lawsuit from a shareholder who alleges that the special purpose acquisition company is operating illegally as an investment company.

The claims should be tossed because the purpose of a SPAC is only “to effect a business combination, not manage a portfolio of investment securities,” Pershing Square Tontine said in a letter to the judge on Friday. SPACs like PSTH are “fundamentally distinct” from investment companies and have to choose assets that are cash equivalents that “do not materially fluctuate in value and are held ...