Ackman's SPARC is seeking new deals with private companies

(Reuters) - Pershing Square SPARC Holdings Ltd, said that it will pursue business combinations with privately-held companies after receiving regulatory approval from U.S regulators for distributing special purpose acquisition rights.

The SPARC, an affiliate of billionaire investor Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd, is targeting companies that seek to raise a minimum of $1.5 billion of capital, it said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

Ackman's SPARC is a variation of a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), the market for which has cooled since its peak in 2021 as investors nursed losses on many deals.

Ackman, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, said that he would consider a transaction with Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter. Ackman added that he has no idea if X is interested and would still need to determine whether or not a deal is doable.

Elon Musk in March reportedly offered X social-media company's employees stock grants at a valuation of about $20 billion, less than half the price he paid to acquire the platform, pointing to a drop in Twitter's value, which could make a deal with SPARC unlikely.

X did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru)