Unilever jumps on the stock market after the appointment of Nelson Peltz as administrator


BARCELONA/LONDON (Agefi-Dow Jones)–Unilever shares jumped on Tuesday morning after the British-Dutch consumer goods maker appointed activist investor Nelson Peltz to its board of directors, effective July 20 .

Around 10:20 a.m., the Unilever title was up 7% at 3,740 pence.

Nelson Peltz heads the hedge fund Trian Fund Management, which owns about 1.5% of Unilever’s capital. Unilever said Trian had confirmed ownership of approximately 37.4 million shares of Unilever common stock, worth some $1.6 billion. The fund is thus the group’s fifth largest shareholder, according to FactSet.

Nelson Peltz said Unilever has “significant potential” and plans to “work collaboratively” with the group.

The fund may have increased pressure on Unilever since its failed $68 billion bid for GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare arm in January.

“We have had in-depth and constructive discussions with him. [Nelson Peltz] and the Trian team and believe that Nelson’s experience in the international consumer goods industry will be valuable to Unilever as we continue to improve the performance of our business,” said Unilever Chairman Nils Andersen, quoted in a statement.

-Michael Susin and Saabira Chaudhuri, The Wall Street Journal

(French version Aurélie Henri) ed: VLV

Agefi-Dow Jones The financial newswire

Dow Jones Newswires

May 31, 2022 04:21 ET (08:21 GMT)



Source link -91