Herbalife Ltd., the nutrition company that hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has accused of being a pyramid scheme, disclosed that the Federal Trade Commission has started a civil probe into its practices.

The company is confident it is in compliance with all laws and will cooperate with the investigation, Cayman Islands-based Herbalife said today in a statement.

The probe is a win for Ackman, who has said Herbalife misrepresents sales figures, misleads distributors and sells a commodity product at inflated prices. In 2012, Ackman said his New York-based Pershing Square Capital Management LP had sold short 20 million of the company’s shares and started working to try to convince regulators to shut the company down.

“Herbalife welcomes the inquiry given the tremendous amount of misinformation in the marketplace,” the company said in the statement. 

Herbalife rose 4.5 percent to $68.30 in New York before trading in the shares was halted.