Ackman Aims at Target's Land

Lampert says it wouldn't surprise him if, as in the past, Ackman enlisted a financial adviser on the Target proposal, "especially given the lack of apparent reason for the campaign."

The relationship between investment banks (and other advisers) and activist hedge fund managers is one that doesn't get much publicity. The most famous publicized case of an adviser teaming up with an activist fund manager came in 2005, when billionaire Carl Icahn enlisted Lazard in his campaign to maximize value at Time Warner(TWX Quote).

The remainder of these deals typically fly under the radar.

Ackman's relationship with Blackstone emerged with his investment in Wendy's in 2005. In an SEC filing, Ackman said he retained Blackstone as his financial adviser to evaluate his proposal for the fast-food chain. Wendy's eventually adopted a piece of Ackman's plan by spinning off its Tim Hortons(THI Quote) doughnut chain.

Ackman's relationship with Blackstone continued with the McDonald's campaign, sources familiar with the matter say. One such person speculates that Ackman paid Blackstone several million dollars to essentially create the report on McDonald's that was shared with other large institutional shareholders. A.J. Agarwal, a senior managing director at Blackstone, was a key point man on the McDonald's and Wendy's campaigns, sources say.

"Bill didn't need [Blackstone] to come to his own conclusion," says the industry source. But it provides weight for Blackstone "to do the report and say he's right," the person adds.