Bloomberg – William Ackman’s hedge fund that invests in Target Corp. fell 68 percent last year, more than double the loss by the second-largest U.S. discount chain.

Pershing Square IV declined 7.7 percent in December alone, according to a letter to investors from Pershing Square Capital Management LP. Ackman and Pershing spent about $2 billion in 2007 for a stake in Minneapolis-based Target. Ackman has since pressed Target to buy back shares, sell its credit-card unit and extract more value from its real estate.

Ackman, who controls 9.5 percent of Target, proposed last year that the company place the land under Target stores into a real estate investment trust that would lease the property back to the retailer. The New York-based investor has argued that such a move would free up cash for the company and result in a higher valuation.

Pershing Square IV’s loss last year followed a decline of 43 percent in 2007. The fund is structured so its returns to investors double the stock’s movement.

Ackman didn’t return messages seeking comment.

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Bloomberg- William Ackman, the activist hedge fund manager, increased his $2 billion bet on Target Corp. as shares of the second-largest U.S. discount retailer declined as much as 38 percent in the past year, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Pershing Square Capital Management LP, Ackman’s New York- based firm, added at least $100 million to the hedge fund it started last year to invest in Target. Ackman personally committed $5 million and solicited money from current and new investors, said the people, who declined to be identified because the fund is private.

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