Wall Street’s hedge funds are set to lose tens of billions of dollars after a mob of traders on Reddit’s WallStreetBets page sent GameStop, AMC Entertainment, and other stocks skyrocketing in recent days. However, some Canadian entities are cashing in on what is being touted as the “biggest short squeeze in 25 years.” Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan—the largest shareholder in U.S. mall owner Macerich Co.—reportedly sold its entire holding for nearly $500 million when the stock soared. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the Teachers fund sold 24.56 million shares last Wednesday at an average price of $20.25 a share.

The fund is said to have owned 16.4% of Macerich, a real estate investment trust based in Santa Monica, California, which has been struggling for years. To make matters worse, it was immensely impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic that forced malls to shut down and pushed consumers toward e-commerce. The stock lost 84% of its value over a three-year period ending December 31, until shares more than doubled in the space of three weeks last month. According to HuffPost, this turn of events came to be after at-home traders on r/WallStreetBets began pumping it up as the “landlord” of retailers like GameStop and AMC Cinemas.

Macerich shares jumped 68% in four trading sessions and reached about $26 at one point on January 27, giving Ontario Teachers a way out. “We’ve been a long-term investor with Macerich and throughout this relationship, they have been a valued partner,” Dan Madge, a spokesman for the Teachers fund, said in a written statement. “Moving forward, we are focused on scaling and diversifying our global real estate platform, and growing our existing Canadian real estate business.” The fund’s massive cash-in was this week followed by news that it has joined forces with IFM Investors to acquire Canadian district energy operations owned by Enwave Energy Corporation.

Read more @UP Worthy