Business Dan Loeb planning major shakeup at Campbell’s Soup By Josh Kosman and Carleton English July 2, 2018 | 8:37pm Modal Trigger Shutterstock Activist investor Dan Loeb is cooking up a plan to shake things up at Campbell Soup Co., The Post has learned. Loeb’s Third Point hedge fund is in talks with family members who control about 41 percent of Campbell’s shares and with independent Campbell investors about supporting a plan that would result in hiring a bank to explore a possible sale of the 149-year-old company, two sources close to the situation said. Loeb sees Campbell as undervalued, a third source, who declined to give further details, said. The move would be more dramatic than the one the company took in May, when Campbell, without hiring a bank, said it would review all aspects of its strategic plan and portfolio composition. The outcome of that review is expected by Aug. 31. Loeb is asking Campbell to drop all other alternatives and focus just on a sale, sources said. The country’s biggest soup maker held a board meeting last week, but took no action on the Loeb suggestion and allowed the original review to proceed, a source said. Loeb has his work cut out for him. Mary Alice Malone, the granddaughter of Campbell Soup founder John Dorrance, is reluctant to sell, according to two sources. Malone is the largest individual Campbell holder, owning a roughly 17 percent stake. Bennett Dorrance owns about 10 percent, and he, too, is reluctant to sell, sources said. Campbell shares closed down 25 cents Monday, to $40.29. There are family members interested in a sale, sources said. Loeb may go public in the next month to put pressure on the Campbell board to shift to a sale plan, a source said. The Post reported exclusively June 22 that Kraft Heinz is interested in buying Campbell if it decides to put itself up for sale. Campbell, after buying Snyder’s-Lance earlier this year, generates about half its sales from snacks, about 25 percent from soup, 17 percent from simple meals and 10 percent from beverages — including Bolthouse Farms. Meanwhile, Campbell’s problems mount, sources said. The company is in tough negotiations with Walmart, which represents 20 percent of Campbell’s sales. The chain wants to reduce the price it pays for soups, a source said. Investors were shocked in May when Campbell Chief Executive Denise Morrison suddenly resigned — the same day Chief Financial Officer Anthony DiSilvestro called the company’s most recent results “unacceptable.” A Campbell spokesman declined to comment. Third Point, which on Sunday turned the heat up on Nestle in an attempt to get that company to quicken the pace of sales of non-core assets, didn’t respond to a request for comment on Campbell. https://nypost.com/2018/07/02/dan-l...medium=site buttons&utm_campaign=site buttons
Third Point Offers Compromise in Campbell Soup Fight https://www.institutionalinvestor.c...oint Offers Compromise in Campbell Soup Fight
Campbell Clouse Campbell's Soup has hired former Pinnacle Foods CEO Mark Clouse as its new chief, following a difficult year and pressure from activist investment fund Third Point, which supported the choice of Clouse. Reuters.