By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) - Activist investor Jana Partners has built a new position in technology company Everpure and is expected to soon announce the holding in a regulatory filing, according to two sources and documents reviewed by Reuters.
The hedge fund began building its position in the first quarter of 2026 but did not include it on its 13-F form because it had requested a temporary delay in disclosing the new position - known as confidential treatment - with U.S. regulators.
At the end of the first quarter, Jana partners owned more than 1 million shares in Santa Clara-headquartered Everpure, formerly named Pure Storage, said the sources who are not permitted to discuss the hedge fund's holdings publicly.
The current size of Jana's stake in Everpure could not be learned. It is also unclear what changes the New York-based hedge fund, run by managing partner Scott Ostfeld, may be pushing for at the company.
The company has seen a surge in demand due to the artificial intelligence infrastructure build-out and increase in demand for data. It renamed itself in early 2026 to underscore its shift to an AI-focused data management and intelligence platform from a pure data storage provider.
The company has a market value of $23 billion and has seen its stock climb 2.35% this year.
Everpure beat Wall Street earnings forecasts for its fiscal first quarter which ended in May.
Activist investment firms occasionally seek confidential treatment from making their quarterly 13F disclosures to give the firms more time to build their positions and prevent competitors from front running their trades. Berkshire Hathaway, for example, often requests confidential treatment from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to shield positions that are still being built from public view.
A representative for Jana did not respond to a request for comment. A representative for Everpure said, "We maintain an open dialogue with all shareholders and we remain focused on executing our strategic plan and delivering for our customers and investors."
Jana ranks among the most successful activist investors and its stock picks are closely followed on Wall Street, bankers said. The firm successfully pushed telecom company Frontier Communications to sell itself before it was bought by Verizon Communications.
It is currently urging fintech payments company Fiserv to sell off nonessential businesses and refresh its board.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-BaylissEditing by Nick Zieminski)
