DJ Investor Disquiet at Nestlé Grows Beyond Activist Third Point
By Saabira Chaudhuri
Nestlé SA's chairman is facing mounting opposition from some shareholders who say the former chief executive isn't helping his successor's efforts to reinvigorate growth at the world's largest packaged-foods maker.
The maker of Nescafe coffee and Purina pet food has been under pressure since activist investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point LLC disclosed a $3.5 billion stake in the company last year and called for a raft of changes.
Billionaire Mr. Loeb, who is working to rally support from other shareholders, has asked Nestlé to sell its 23% stake in beauty company L'Oréal SA. He has also criticized Chairman Paul Bulcke--appointed in 2017 after eight years as CEO--for being "too comfortable with the status quo."
Nestlé has in turn sought to boost returns by investing in higher-growth categories like coffee, while selling underperforming units such as U.S. confectionery.
However, a survey of investors by Exane BNP Paribas, a research firm, indicates dissatisfaction extends beyond Third Point, suggesting the hedge fund could find support if it pushed Nestlé further.
Exane analyst Jeff Stent said the survey was independently conducted and wasn't commissioned by Nestlé, Third Point or anyone else.
Of respondents, 65% said they would vote against the re-election of Mr. Bulcke if Third Point campaigned against him, 80% said they thought Nestlé should be more active on disposals and 70% said it should sell its L'Oréal stake.
The survey, conducted over the past month, had 61 respondents, 67% of whom said they were current Nestlé shareholders. Full results, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, were only shared with those who took the survey.
Respondents only represent a fraction of Nestlé's investors and 95% of shareholders voted in favor of Mr. Bulcke at the last vote.
Nestlé declined to comment.
A Third Point spokeswoman said the firm has "no present plans to oppose Mr. Bulcke."
Third Point would like its adviser on the Nestlé stake, Jan Bennink, to be added to the board, according to people familiar with the matter. The firm, which has criticized Nestlé as insular, declined to comment on whether it would nominate him.
Mr. Bennink, a former Royal Numico NV and Sara Lee Corp. executive has a reputation as a turnaround specialist. As CEO of Numico he cut costs, sold assets and boosted sales before the baby-food company was sold to Danone. As executive chairman of Sara Lee he oversaw its split into two companies.
Growth slowed sharply during Mr. Bulcke's tenure as CEO, which some former executives attribute to strategic missteps, as well as tough economic conditions.
He took the helm in 2008 as the financial crisis unfolded, but also presided over a series of deals that have dragged on growth, including the 2010 purchase of Kraft Heinz Co.'s frozen-pizza operations in North America and two Chinese deals in 2011.
Nestlé has said it didn't act fast enough when consumers began opting for fresh food over frozen meals, hitting brands like Lean Cuisine and Stouffer's.
"Bulcke is associated with a failed strategy," said Dan O'Keefe, who as head of the global-value team at Artisan Partners oversees a $300 million position in Nestlé. "You send a certain tone when the architect of that strategy sits at the top of the organization. By putting someone else in that role you send a strong signal externally and internally that you aren't wedded to the past."
In the Exane survey, 41 of the 61 respondents said they would like to see Nestlé sell its U.S. frozen-foods business, 32 respondents said they would like to see U.S. ice cream sold off and 28 said they would like to see European confectionery sold.
"We have some concerns that the strategy he proposed in the past causes maybe some turbulence at the present time," said Ingo Speich, a portfolio manager at Union Investment Group, speaking of Mr. Bulcke. The Frankfurt-based firm owns more than EUR720 million ($826 million) in Nestlé shares.
Mr. Speich said new Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider was the right person to lead the company and that he "should not be constrained by a person who had a significantly different strategy."
Mr. Schneider last year scrapped Nestlé's long-held target of boosting organic sales by 5% to 6% each year after the company failed to achieve the goal for the fourth straight year.
Nestlé has said it would reach mid-single-digit organic growth by 2020, but just 37% of investors in the Exane survey think this will happen.
Artisan's Mr. O'Keefe said he would like to see Mr. Bennink become Nestlé's chairman, while Union's Mr. Speich said he would support him being added to the board, despite the addition of three new members by Nestlé this year.
In Exane's survey, 75% of respondents said they would vote for Mr. Bennink if Third Point nominated him for the board.
"The board seems to be a closed system; it's very stable," said Mr. Speich. "Nestlé has to move faster, not just operationally but with changing the board structure."
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 23, 2018 07:36 ET (11:36 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
DJ 投資者對雀巢的不安情緒已超過激進分子的第三點
作者:Saabira Chaudhuri
雀巢股份公司董事長正面臨越來越多的股東的反對,他們說這位前首席執行官無助於其繼任者努力重振這家全球最大的包裝食品製造商的增長。
自從激進投資者丹尼爾·勒布的Third Point LLC去年披露了雀巢咖啡和Purina寵物食品的35億美元股份並呼籲進行大量變革以來,這家雀巢咖啡和普瑞納寵物食品的製造商一直承受着壓力。
億萬富翁勒布正在努力爭取其他股東的支持,他已要求雀巢出售其在美容公司歐萊雅股份公司23%的股份。他還批評董事長保羅·布爾克(Paul Bulcke)在擔任首席執行官八年後於2017年被任命,“對現狀過於滿意”。
反過來,雀巢試圖通過投資咖啡等高增長類別來提高回報,同時出售表現不佳的部門,例如美國糖果。
但是,研究公司Exane BNP Paribas對投資者進行的一項調查顯示,不滿情緒不僅限於Third Point,這表明該對沖基金如果進一步推動雀巢,可能會獲得支持。
Exane分析師傑夫·斯滕特表示,這項調查是獨立進行的,不是由雀巢、Third Point或其他任何公司委託進行的。
65%的受訪者表示,如果Third Point反對布爾克的競選,他們將投票反對他連任,80%的受訪者表示,他們認爲雀巢應該更加積極地進行出售,70%的人表示應該出售其在歐萊雅的股份。
這項在過去一個月進行的調查有61名受訪者,其中67%的人表示他們是雀巢的現任股東。由《華爾街日報》審查的完整結果僅與參與調查的人共享。
受訪者僅代表雀巢投資者的一小部分,95%的股東在最後一次投票中投票支持布爾克先生。
雀巢拒絕置評。
Third Point的一位發言人說,該公司 “目前沒有反對布爾克的計劃”。
知情人士稱,Third Point希望將其在雀巢股份上的顧問揚·本寧克加入董事會。該公司批評雀巢與世隔絕,但拒絕評論是否會提名他。
本寧克先生曾任內華達州皇家努米科和薩拉·李公司高管,以轉型專家而聞名。作爲Numico的首席執行官,在這家嬰兒食品公司被出售給達能之前,他削減了成本,出售了資產並促進了銷售。作爲薩拉·李的執行董事長,他監督了該公司拆分爲兩家公司。
在布爾克擔任首席執行官期間,增長急劇放緩,一些前高管將其歸因於戰略失誤以及艱難的經濟狀況。
隨着金融危機的爆發,他在2008年掌舵,但也主持了一系列拖累增長的交易,包括2010年收購卡夫亨氏公司。”s在北美的冷凍披薩業務和2011年的兩筆中國交易。
雀巢表示,當消費者開始選擇新鮮食品而不是冷凍食品時,它的行動速度還不夠快,他們衝擊了Lean Cuisine和Stouffer's等品牌。
“布爾克與失敗的戰略有關,” 丹·奧基夫說,他作爲Artisan Partners全球價值團隊負責人,負責監督雀巢3億美元的頭寸。“當該戰略的設計者處於組織最高層時,你會發出特定的語氣。通過讓其他人擔任這個角色,你在外部和內部都發出了一個強烈的信號,表明你不會沉迷於過去。”
在Exane的調查中,61位受訪者中有41位表示希望雀巢出售其美國冷凍食品業務,32位受訪者表示希望看到美國冰淇淋被出售,28位受訪者表示希望看到歐洲糖果的出售。
聯合投資集團投資組合經理英戈·斯佩奇在談到布爾克時說:“我們擔心他過去提出的戰略目前可能會引起一些動盪。”這家總部位於法蘭克福的公司擁有超過 EUR720 百萬英鎊(8.26億美元)的雀巢股票。
斯佩奇說,雀巢新任首席執行官馬克·施耐德是領導公司的合適人選,他 “不應受到戰略截然不同的人的限制”。
去年,施耐德取消了雀巢長期以來的每年將有機銷售額提高5%至6%的目標,此前該公司連續第四年未能實現該目標。
雀巢曾表示,到2020年將達到中等個位數的有機增長,但在Exane調查中,只有37%的投資者認爲這將發生。
Artisan的奧基夫表示,他希望看到本寧克成爲雀巢董事長,而聯盟的斯佩奇則表示,儘管雀巢今年增加了三名新成員,但他仍將支持他加入董事會。
在Exane的調查中,75%的受訪者表示,如果Third Point提名本寧克爲董事會成員,他們將投票給他。
斯佩奇說:“董事會似乎是一個封閉的系統;它非常穩定。”“雀巢必須加快步伐,不僅要在運營上,還要改變董事會結構。”
通過 saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com 寫信給 Saabira Chaudhuri
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2018 年 10 月 23 日美國東部時間 07:36(格林威治標準時間 11:36)
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