March 7, 2017
M&A In European Food
I'm not sure that consumer packaged goods is the area to be in, at least not in the U.S. and not based on names like Kellogg or General Mills.But they seem to have found a bottom in May of this year after a horrendous performance over the previous two years. In the case of CPB it was kissing $68 in July 2016 before hitting $32.63.
For a quarter-century those manufacturers ratcheted prices as though they were tobacco companies but people find it easier to give up their Cheerios than their cigarettes.
The managements milked that approach for pretty much all it was worth so, as operating entities, they aren't all that attractive but someone will decide the only thing left to do is to asset strip or dividend recap the life out of the former cash cows.
Top o'the market to ya....
During a major bull market.
Here's the latest and although it's not private equity swooping in, it's similar.
From MarketWatch, Sept. 6, 7:36pm EDT:
Daniel Loeb’s Third Point seeks to replace Campbell Soup’s entire board
Hedge fund unimpressed with plan to sell two business units
Daniel Loeb’s Third Point LLC plans to launch a proxy fight to replace Campbell Soup Co.’s entire board after the fund was underwhelmed by the company’s plan to sell two business units, said people familiar with the matter.And this morning:
If it were to succeed in ousting the board, the activist hedge fund believes all potential options for the company could be back on the table. Third Point’s prior stance was that a sale of the whole company was “the only justifiable outcome” for Campbell CPB, +0.70% under its current board and management. It is rare for activist investors to attempt a wholesale flip of a company’s board — and even rarer that they succeed in doing so.
But Third Point is seeking every seat and thinks Campbell’s current board, which includes three descendants of the inventor of Campbell soup, isn’t acting fast enough to turn around the struggling food conglomerate and undo some of the strategic missteps it oversaw, the people said. Third Point has allied itself with George Strawbridge Jr., another descendant and previous board member who owns a 2.77% stake in the company....MORE
Third Point's Daniel Loeb confirms he is seeking to replace entire Campbell Soup board
Even our poster child for the group has bounced since May:
General Mills
Recently:
Packaged Goods: ""Why 149 year-old Campbell Soup is at a crossroads" (CPB)
