Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, on Wednesday warned that Automatic Data Processing Inc. is at risk of becoming like IBM Corp. and again pressured the payrolls services company to work with him to boost shareholder value. “I’m not saying ADP is IBM today, but it is at risk of becoming IBM if they don’t take seriously the competitive threats they face and if they don’t run their businesses as efficiently as they can,” Ackman said during an interview on CNBC. IBM, once an undisputable technology leader, has continued to see its revenue dwindle in recent year. The hedge-fund manager also criticized ADP for “not hitting on all cylinders” and growing as it had in the past. Ackman’s comments follow the disclosure of a letter in which Pershing took its case to restructure ADP directly to its shareholders. Pershing has invested $2.3 billion in ADP and has proposed three nominees to the board. Shares of ADP slid 0.6%.
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