Ackman’s hedge fund put $40M into StuyTown joint venture

Hedge fund honcho Bill Ackman said his firm chipped in $40 million as part of a bid to take over downtown apartment complex Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, according to a letter to investors obtained by The Post.

Earlier this month, Ackman announced a partnership with real-estate venture Winthrop Reality to buy a top slice of the $1.4 billion second mortgage on the property, valued at $300 million, for about $45 million — or 15 cents on the dollar.

Ackman said his $40 million investment in the venture represents about 0.7 percent of the funds’ overall capital, according to his letter to investors.

Ackman plans to use his debt position to take over StuyTown by first taking control of an entity that operates the property and is responsible for the $3 billion first mortgage.

“While StuyTown was an unsuccessful investment at a $6.3 billion price, we believe it has the potential to be a very attractive investment at approximately half that valuation,” Ackson said in the letter.

The previous owners paid $5.4 billion for the property, plus $900 million in cash reserve for interest payments and other scheduled costs.

Ackman, known for battling boards and shorting troubled companies, also told investors his three funds fell by between 4.4 percent and 3.8 percent last quarter. They’re up for the year, however, by between 2.2 percent and 3 percent, excluding fees.

He also said he’s shorting oil giant BP using credit default swaps, or protection against the company defaulting on its debt. Among his reasons for shorting BP, Ackman believes the company has damaged its ability to “operate effectively” in the U.S.

He also said that buying credit default swaps on the company’s debt was cheap given BP’s potential legal liabilities following the oil disaster in the Gulf.