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(Alliance News) - Vodafone Group PLC and Cevian Capital AB have discussed how to boost the telecommunications company's performance, with the activist investor snapping up a stake in the firm, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
The financial news agency, citing people familiar with the matter, said the Swedish investment firm has been in talks with officials at Vodafone for several months, in a bid to improve the FTSE 100 company's fortunes.
Measures could include selling some operations, making stock buybacks, and boosting its presence in key markets, Bloomberg reported.
Cevian is not new to building up stakes in London listings. Bloomberg noted it has previously bought into insurers Aviva PLC and RSA Insurance Group. It was an RSA shareholder when the insurer accepted a GBP7.2 billion takeover bid from a two-headed consortium back in November 2020.
Cevian also is not new to working with telecommunication firms. Bloomberg reported it is currently pushing for changes at Ericsson AB.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-28/activist-investor-cevian-is-said-to-build-stake-in-vodafone
A separate report from Bloomberg last week Monday showed activist investors have targeted London-listed firms with a combined market value of over USD500 billion. Unilever PLC has been one of the latest to face activist investor pressure.
Both Bloomberg and the Financial Times reported earlier in January that Trian Partners has built a stake in the consumer goods company following Unilever's failed bid for the consumer healthcare arm of GlaxoSmithKline PLC.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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