(Reuters) -Elliott Management on Tuesday disclosed a $4 billion stake in PepsiCo, launching a campaign to restore growth and boost the beverage maker's share price.
The stake in PepsiCo, one of Elliott's biggest holdings, comes as the company tackles choppy demand for its snacks business and pursues a shift to healthier drinks and sodas to address changing consumer preferences.
The company's stock jumped 6% in early trading, after losing about a quarter of its value since hitting a record high in May
2023.
Elliott singled out Pepsico's North America beverages unit as an underperformer, saying growth and margins were lagging peers due to strategic missteps, share losses in soda and the introduction of new brands and products that has "strained focus and execution".
PepsiCo should evaluate a potential re-franchising of its bottling network along the lines of rival Coca-Cola's, Elliott said.
PepsiCo did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Elliott's equity activism strategy had also grabbed headlines last year, when the investment firm revealed a $5 billion holding in Honeywell and orchestrated a break-up of the heavy machinery maker.
"With the right mindset and an appropriately ambitious turnaround plan, PepsiCo today represents a rare chance to revitalize a leading global enterprise and unlock significant shareholder value," Elliott wrote in its letter.
About a decade ago, activist investor Nelson Peltz led an unsuccessful campaign to get Pepsico to split its struggling beverages unit from its stronger snacks business, home to brands such as Lay's and Doritos.
The company should "defend its core franchises in carbonated soft drinks with incremental marketing and innovation, while selectively expanding in growing categories," Elliott said.
The packaged foods industry has been navigating troubled waters, with companies looking to reshape their portfolios through splits and mergers as high commodity costs and shifting consumer demand drag sales.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Akash Sriram; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Devika Syamnath)
