Bill Ackman is following Warren Buffett’s lead by acquiring insurer and reinsurer Vantage, which he will use to create a diversified holding company, the hedge fund manager said Thursday.

Real estate company Howard Hughes Holdings, in which Mr. Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management increased its stake to 47% earlier this year, will pay $2.1 billion for Vantage. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.

The deal will provide Vantage improved financial support, Mr. Ackman said on a conference call with investors and analysts.

“We’ve taken a page from Mr. Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway. In the early days of Berkshire, Mr. Buffett acquired a small insurance company and managed that insurance company in a very interesting manner,” he said.

Berkshire Hathaway’s acquisition of insurers, beginning with National Indemnity in 1967, provided Mr. Buffett with what the Berkshire chief terms “float” from insurance premiums. He allocates a larger share of the company’s funds to stocks than most insurers, providing a financial engine for the parent company’s growth.

Berkshire is also less leveraged than other insurers and focuses on long-term profitability, Mr. Ackman said.

Mr. Ackman, who repeatedly referenced Mr. Buffett on the call, said Howard Hughes, which reported $850 million in revenue and $118.1 million in profit for the first nine months of 2025, is in a better position than Berkshire Hathaway was when Mr. Buffett bought it in 1965. At the time, Berkshire Hathaway was a struggling textile company.

“We’re starting from a much, much better place than a crappy textile company and we have the benefit of Mr. Buffett’s playbook,” he said.

Vantage will benefit from improved credit support as part of a diversified holding company, and Pershing will invest its assets “for free,” he said.

In addition, Howard Hughes will add capital to Vantage, Mr. Ackman said.

“Following the transaction close, we expect to invest additional primary capital in Vantage; this will de-lever the company’s balance sheet,” he said.

Vantage reported $1.6 billion in gross written premium and $1.17 billion in net written premium in the trailing 12 months to Sept. 30, 2025.

Its largest business lines are specialty reinsurance, which accounts for 20% of gross premium, followed by casualty insurance at 17%, property insurance, 15%, and property/casualty reinsurance at 10%. Financial lines, construction, professional liability, health care, political risk and financial reinsurance all represent less than 10%.

Vantage was founded in 2020 by industry veterans Greg Hendrick, former CEO of Axa XL, and the late Dinos Iordanou, who previously led Arch Capital. Private equity firms The Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman backed Vantage.