Icahn Trims His Herbalife Position: 'It's Only Prudent'

Herbalife Nutrition Ltd HLF fell as much as 7.4 percent Friday after the firm’s largest shareholder pared its six-year long position and third-oldest asset.

Icahn Enterprises LP Common Stock IEP submitted 11.4 million of its shares into Herbalife’s self-tender offer.

“For almost six years, we have been one of Herbalife’s strongest, most loyal supporters; we stood by the company through a half-decade-long short-selling campaign; and we never sold a share, even after our investment doubled,” activist investor Carl Icahn said in a statement. “But, given that our Herbalife investment has become an outsized position, representing approximately 24 percent exposure to total NAV, it is only prudent for IEP to reduce its exposure.”

Icahn retained 34.3 million shares to remain the company’s largest shareholder.

He touted IEP’s history in Herbalife as a model of positive activist investment — one that created $7 billion in shareholder value by seeing a short-besieged firm through critical attacks and regulatory scrutiny.

“We believe Herbalife’s business is stable, the short-sellers have largely exited and the company is well-positioned for the future,” Icahn said. 

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Photo courtesy of Herbalife.