(CercleFinance.com) – The investment fund Ancora announced on Monday that it had established a “significant” stake of around 1% in the capital of the American game and toy manufacturer Hasbro.
In a letter made public last night, the investor – who presents himself as a specialist in personalized advice on family wealth management – highlights the “persistent underperformance” of the company’s share price and urges his management to take decisive action in order to catch up on rival Mattel.
According to Ancora, the ‘conglomerate’ type configuration chosen by the group leads to excessive complexity which has resulted in a destruction of shareholder value, in particular due to under-investment in the role-playing game subsidiary ‘Wizards of the Coast’, which he considers the true ‘crown jewel’ of the company.
The fund asks Hasbro to take advantage of the recent appointment of a new chief executive – Chris Cocks – to renew the board of directors in depth, sell all or part of the content subsidiary eOne and consider a spin-off from Wizards of the Coast .
According to the calculations of Ancora, the Hasbro action would today be undervalued by 75% compared to its intrinsic value.
On the New York Stock Exchange, Hasbro stock reacted to these announcements by rising more than 1% in early trading.
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