Activist investor Peltz boost Disney stake, seeks board seat for himself -WSJ

(Reuters) -Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management has increased its stake in Disney and the activist investor is expected to request multiple board seats, including for himself, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

Trian is now one of Disney’s largest investors with a stake worth upward of $2.5 billion after boosting its stake to more than 30 million shares, from roughly 6.4 million shares at the end of the second quarter, the WSJ reported.

Trian thinks Disney shares are significantly undervalued and that the company needs a more focused board, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The window for shareholder nominations runs from Dec. 5 through Jan. 4, according to Disney’s proxy materials cited by the newspaper.

In February, Peltz ended his quest for a board seat at Disney after Chief Executive Bob Iger laid out plans to cut 7,000 jobs as part of an effort to save $5.5 billion in costs and make the company’s streaming business profitable.

Disney and Trian did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.