Icahn unties personal loans from his investment firm’s share price

BILLIONAIRE activist investor Carl Icahn has amended the terms of his personal loans to separate them from the price of Icahn Enterprises’ (IEP) depositary units, the investment firm disclosed in a filing on Monday (Jul 10).

The move comes months after short-seller Hindenburg’s criticism triggered a massive fall in the shares of his investment company.

Icahn and its affiliates have entered into a three-year loan agreement with banks, including Bank of America, Bank of Montreal and Deutsche Bank, which amends and restates previous loan agreements with such lenders and consolidates all borrowings of Icahn, the filing said.

Shares of Icahn Enterprises soared 10.8 per cent at US$31.98 in early trading on Monday.

Hindenburg had called Icahn’s pledge of about 60 per cent of his IEP stake as collateral for margin loans risky, which could result in margin calls should the unit’s prices decline.

The short-seller accused IEP of overvaluing its holdings and relying on a “ponzi-like economic structure” to pay dividends. It also said IEP units were inflated by more than 75 per cent.

Icahn called Hindenburg’s report “self-serving” and vowed to “fight back”. REUTERS