Icahn Enterprises Responds to Hindenburg Research Accusations
11 May 2023 - 2:20AM
Dow Jones News
By Emon Reiser
Icahn Enterprises on Wednesday issued a public response to
accusations from short seller Hindenburg Research that Chairman
Carl Icahn was allegedly inflating the value of his investment
company's assets.
Mr. Icahn's scathing reply to the report, published May 2, comes
after federal prosecutors opened an inquiry into the company.
"We intend to take all appropriate steps to protect our
unitholders and fight back," Mr. Icahn said after characterizing
Hindenberg as "Blitzkrieg Research," and accusing the well-known
short seller of launching disinformation campaigns and damaging its
reputation.
Icahn added in his statement: "Over the years, we have generated
hundreds of billions of dollars of value for stockholders through
activist campaigns where we were able to guide boards and CEOs to
take the steps necessary to enhance the value of their
companies."
"In more recent years the performance of our investment segment
has been lower than our historical averages. A key detractor has
been our bearish view of the market, causing us to have a large net
short position. We recently have taken steps to reduce the short
positions in our hedge book and concentrate for the most part on
activism, which has served us so well in the past. We believe our
existing portfolio has considerable upside potential over the
coming years," Icahn said.
Icahn said he expects that over time, Icahn Enterprises's
performance will "speak for itself" and that the company "intends
to vigorously defend itself and its unitholders."
A day after the report from Hindenburg Research was published,
Icahn Enterprises' market capitalization fell by $6.6 billion for
its unitholders, according to the company.
"The good news for IEP's investors is that we have Carl, the
liquidity, the strategy and the know-how to fight back," the
company said.
Icahn Enterprises said in a filing that it is cooperating with
the investigation.
Shares are down 17% to $31.37 in morning trading.
Write to Emon Reiser at emon.reiser@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 10, 2023 12:05 ET (16:05 GMT)
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