Ackman-Herbalife Fight Continues

(RTTNews) - Activist investors William Ackman in a statement on Thursday clarified that his firm did not cancel any meeting with Herbalife Ltd. (HLF), as claimed by the nutrition and weight management company late Wednesday, but only postponed it.

Ackman in a statement said, "Rather than speaking to its deteriorating business fundamentals, Herbalife appears to be attempting to distract investors from the facts by claiming - falsely - that we canceled a meeting."

According to Pershing Square, Ackman's company, the meeting between their Senior Counsel David Klafter and Herbalife was scheduled for December 17. However, they did not "cancel" but had to "postpone" the meeting due to other pressing priorities.

Late Wednesday, Herbalife claimed that Ackman had "no interest in learning them," and had "canceled" a meeting with them that he had asked for. Herbalife was responding to renewed pointers from Bill Ackman.

Ackman once again targeted Herbalife yesterday by comparing the company to Bernie Madoff during a CNBC interview.

"When you shine sunlight on Madoff it makes it difficult for Madoff to find victims. The same thing is happening at Herbalife," Ackman said, according to the CNBC report.

Herbalife responded by noting that Bill Ackman's sole purpose was to drive down its share price. "Bill Ackman is entirely predictable - with his Herbalife put options expiring next week, he is off on yet another tirade of misrepresentations, the sole purpose of which is to drive down our share price," the company said.

However, Ackman said, "Yesterday, on CNBC, I said that Herbalife will miss earnings for the fourth quarter of 2014 and will lower its earnings guidance for 2015. If these assertions are incorrect, as Herbalife states, then the company should correct the record by reaffirming both Q4 and 2015 earnings guidance."

Meanwhile, the New York Post reported that Herbalife has switched its public relations firms, in the wake of new attacks from Ackman.

Los Angeles, California-based Herbalife is a multi-level marketing company that sells nutritional supplements, sports and fitness products. It has been at the center of attention since December 2012, when Ackman alleged that the company is a pyramid scheme that would fail soon. Ackman's allegations have led to federal probes against Herbalife.

Nonetheless, Herbalife has found support from numerous hedge funds, most importantly the backing of billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who became a major shareholder of Herbalife. Icahn said that Herbalife has a legitimate business model. Consequently, the company has been witnessing sharp swings in its stock price.

HLF is currently trading at $33.21,up $1.49 or 4.70%, on the NYSE.