LONDON (Alliance News) - Activist hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management has taken a 0.5% stake in GlaxoSmithKline PLC, the Sunday Times reported, putting more pressure on Chief Executive Andrew Witty.
Och-Ziff's stake is understood to have been built up through derivatives, meaning it does not appear on the share register, the newspaper said.
The London arm of Och-Ziff is believed to have approached the Glaxo board around two months ago and urged Chairman Philip Hampton to undertake a shake-up, the Sunday Times said, including a push for plans to be outlined on the eventual departure of Witty and of finance director Simon Dingemans.
The news of Och-Ziff's push for change at Glaxo comes after Neil Woodford, the prominent fund manager, called for Glaxo to be broken up into four companies.
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Companies/article1659930.ece
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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Glaxosmithkline (GSK)