Trian Fund Management has invested $3.5bn in P&G, the investment firm’s largest stake in any company to date.
The investment was not revealed to P&G until 14 February when a regulatory filing was released.
Trian is expected to deliver a white paper to P&G soon, putting pressure on the owner of Gillette, Old Spice and Olay to continue streamlining and reducing costs.
A further break-up of P&G’s portfolio is said to be favoured by two thirds of P&G’s institutional investors according to a January 2016 survey by Bernstein Research.
P&G told Reuters it “welcomed all investment” in the company, and benefited from a 3% spike in shares shortly after the news of Trian’s investment broke.
Trian is known to be an activist investor with a track record of targeting major consumer, industrial and financial companies, and pushing for board representation.
It manages more than $10bn with other active investments including US chemicals conglomerate DuPont Co, as well as Lazard, Tiffany & Co and Cadbury.
