Activist Investor ValueAct Turns Up Pressure on Baker Hughes
October 06 2015 - 08:30AM
Dow Jones News
ValueAct Capital Management on Tuesday turned up the heat on
Baker Hughes Inc., which is awaiting regulatory approval for its
tie-up with Halliburton Co., after taking a stake in the oil-field
servicer earlier this year.
In a regulatory filing, ValueAct said it believes shares are
undervalued and, as such, the firm intends to discuss with Baker
Hughes's board ways to enhance shareholder value—including
potentially adding a ValueAct representative to the company's
board. ValueAct said it will also discuss the company's mergers and
acquisitions strategy, executive compensation and capital
allocation, among other items.
A representative for Baker Hughes couldn't immediately be
reached for comment.
In January, ValueAct disclosed a 5.1% stake in the Houston
company for about $1.22 billion. The position now stands at 5.3%.
When ValueAct first revealed its stake, it didn't indicate its
motives.
The investment came after Baker Hughes agreed to be acquired by
larger rival Halliburton for about $35 billion. Last month, the
companies unveiled further divestiture proposals to help complete
the deal.
ValueAct, a roughly $15 billion San Francisco hedge fund,
typically likes to work behind the scenes with management rather
than fight publicly like many activists. The firm garnered
attention in 2013 when it secured a board seat at Microsoft Corp.,
despite holding less than 1% of the stock, marking the first time
the software giant appointed an activist shareholder to its
board.
Other ValueAct targets include Motorola Solutions Inc., Adobe
Systems Inc. and CBRE Group Inc.
Shares in Baker Hughes, down 11.6% over the past year, were
inactive premarket.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 06, 2015 08:15 ET (12:15 GMT)
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