Activist Trian Fund Management LP has purchased a $900 million or 0.4% stake in media giant Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA), betting that the company’s stock is undervalued and various operational changes can be made to make Comcast even more profitable.
Trian Fund acquired nearly 20 million shares of Comcast, which currently has a net worth of $200 billion. Nelson Peltz, Ed Garden, and Peter May founded Trian. The activist hedge fund has a long history of tangling with market giants such as DuPont de Nemours Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE: PG), not to mention General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). It manages approximately $8.8 billion in assets.
Compared to other activist hedge funds on the block, Trian Fund is reportedly more tame with its approach to improving the bottom line for some of America’s biggest corporations. The activist hedge fund usually aims to improve efficiency and the use of capital as well as cutting underperforming divisions or selling them off.
Trian Fund started constructive negotiations with Comcast
It remains unclear as to what internal changes Trian Fund seeks to accomplish within Comcast, which some have pointed out to be impossible with Comcast chairman and chief executive Brian Roberts holding a large voting stake in Comcast.
