Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management has sold around 3.8 million shares in Unilever for nearly £181m.
The activist investor’s New York hedge fund had been Unilever’s fifth largest shareholder.
Trian, which previously held a 1.47% stake (36.6 million shares) in the Dove and Sure owner, offloaded shares in three batches between 9 and 13 August.
It cited “portfolio management purposes” as the reason in its filing.
The fund now holds about 32.6 million shares following the stake sale.
Trian began building its stake in Unilever (initially 1.5%) in 2022, the same year Peltz joined the British company’s board as a non-executive director.
His appointment led to accusations by Terry Smith – owner of fellow Unilever investor Fundsmith – that the consumer goods giant was showing preferential treatment to newcomers over its longstanding investors.
Peltz endorsed the appointment of Hein Schumacher as Unilever’s CEO, who replaced Alan Jope last summer.
Schumacher’s tenure to date has seen him implement a productivity programme that encompasses the spin-off of Unilever’s ice cream business.
This is in addition to the ongoing layoffs of as many as 7,500 staff.
Peltz previously sat on the board of Unilever’s FMCG rival Procter & Gamble from 2018 to 2021.
Last year, meanwhile, the billionaire was reported to be considering mounting a shareholder campaign to oust Estée Lauder Companies’ longtime CEO, Fabrizio Freda.
But these rumours were almost immediately quashed.
