Trian Partners, a New York-based hedge fund spearheaded by activist investor Nelson Peltz, has divested approximately £180 million ($231.3 million) worth of Unilever shares since last week.
According to a recent RNS filing from the London-headquartered FMCG giant, sales conducted by Trian Fund Management occurred in three separate batches beginning on Friday, August 9. The divestment aimed to support “portfolio management purposes.”
Beginning in 2022, Trian constructed a stake in Unilever, prior to the attempted acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer health division, which was led by then-CEO Alan Jope. The proposed acquisition faced substantial criticism from investors, notably due to its anticipated costs, and was ultimately withdrawn.
Nelson Peltz, the billionaire entrepreneur and one of the founding partners of Trian Fund Management, joined Unilever’s board as a non-executive director in the summer of 2022.
At that time, Unilever disclosed that Trian Partners had acquired a 1.5% stake in the company, translating to more than 37 million shares, and that Peltz would also be a member of Unilever’s compensation committee.
Under the stewardship of former FrieslandCampina executive Hein Schumacher, Unilever reported in its filing that Trian Fund Management sold nearly four million shares over the past week.
The largest portion of the shares was sold last Friday—around 2.93 million shares, valued at around £138.9 million. This was followed by smaller disposals on Monday and Tuesday of this week, as indicated by the RNS filings.
Since Schumacher took the helm as CEO last July, he has initiated a review of Unilever’s ice cream division, with plans for a potential spin-off or sale anticipated to be finalized by the end of 2025.
Last month, the owner of the Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum brands opted not to comment on rumors that Unilever had begun discussions with a consortium of investors regarding the prospective sale of its ice cream business, which is under evaluation with several interested buyers.
Of the approximately 3.8 million shares that Trian Partners sold since last week, around 738,472 shares were traded on Monday for approximately £34.8 million, followed by a sale of 155,000 shares on Tuesday, valued at about £7.3 million.
