((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(Added details on Kenvue investment and background) by Svea Herbst-Bayliss
Hedge fund Starboard Value has taken a stake in Kenvue KVUE.N, the consumer products company that makes Band-Aid, Listerine and Tylenol, and which went public last year, two people familiar with the matter said Sunday. ‘affair.
Reuters was not immediately able to determine the amount of the stake.
Kenvue, formerly part of Johnson & Johnson
JNJ.N, has seen its stock price fall 18% since the company went public in May 2023. The stock closed at $21.72 on Friday, giving the company a market value of 41 billion dollars.
Starboard may want the company to review how it positions its brands and how they are priced to boost its performance, one of the sources said.
The sources were not authorized to publicly discuss the hedge fund’s positions and declined to be identified. A Kenvue representative was not immediately available for comment.
The news, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes two days before the 13D Monitor Active-Passive Investor Summit, where Starboard Chief Investment Officer Jeffrey Smith is expected to present investment ideas.
At the conference, Starboard is expected to discuss its new investment of around $1 billion in pharmaceutical company Pfizer PFE.N . The hedge fund said it wants the pharmaceutical giant to improve its financial performance.
Last week, Mr. Smith met with Pfizer’s chief executive, Albert Bourla, and the company’s lead independent director. Pfizer delivered the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine, but its stock price has lost nearly half its value since 2021, when demand for vaccines was high.
