Activist Jana owns a stake in Lamb Weston, pushing for it to be sold via Reuters
Written by Svea Herbst-Bayliss
(Reuters) – Jana Partners has built a new position in Lamb Weston and could pressure the French firm to consider selling itself, the activist investment firm said in a regulatory filing on Friday.
Jana said he owns 5% of the Eagle, Idaho-based company and wants to see a strategic review in which the company and banks will review spending, performance shortfalls and consider repurchasing stock.
The hedge fund has also signaled that it may seek board seats at the company, which currently has a market capitalization of $11 billion.
News of Jana's stake, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, sent Lamb Weston's stock price up 6.44% in early Friday trading. Since January, the stock is down 28%.
Jana is working with Continental Grain, a private company that owns and operates companies in the food and agriculture business, for the investment, the filing said. It also works with the former chairman of Lamb Weston, Timothy McLevish.
Lamb Weston did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Earlier this month, Lamb Weston cut its annual profit forecast and announced job cuts amid softer costs across its restaurants and heightened competition in international markets.
In the filing, Jana blames Lamb Weston for its problems, writing of “self-inflicted missteps” that led to underperformance.
As the largest producer of french fries in North America, Lamb Weston sells its products, including tater puffs and hash brown patties, to customers including hamburger chain McDonalds.
Last year Jana Partners called on Frontier Communications (OTC:) to sell itself again Verizon Communications (NYSE:) made a bid last month. At the time, the hedge fund was working with a large strategic investor that it did not identify.
Jana previously pushed for the sale of New Relic (NYSE: ) which was taken private by TPG and Francisco Partners last year. It also pushed for the sale of Zendesk (NYSE: ) which was taken private in 2022 by investment firms led by Hellman & Friedman and Permira.
