Activist investor Starboard Value, which picked up a $1 billion stake in Pfizer earlier this month, now reportedly has Johnson & Johnson’s consumer health spinout Kenvue in its sights.
The investor has a “sizeable stake” in the company and wants it to make changes to boost its share price, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Kenvue shares are currently trading around $23 and have been largely consistent since its market debut in May 2023. At the time, the J&J spinout’s $41 billion IPO was the largest in U.S. markets in more than a year, with shares initially priced at $22 each.
Starboard’s plans for Kenvue aren’t known yet, but CEO Jeff Smith is expected to reveal more at an upcoming investor conference, according to WSJ. The investor reportedly thinks the company’s stocks are underperforming relative to its peers, which include GSK’s Haleon spinout and Proctor & Gamble as well as the larger market.
The consumer health company, which markets household names like Band-Aid bandages, Listerine mouthwash and pain reliever Tylenol, posted $15.4 billion in 2023 net sales and expects to see net sales growth of 1% to 3% in 2024. Over its most recently reported financial quarter, Kenvue’s sales of $4 billion slipped by 0.3%.
J&J originally held about 90% of Kenvue’s total shares but has since moved to cut its ties completely, with a May plan to offer more than 182 million shares in exchange for debt. Those shares represent its last remaining stake in the company after offloading 1.53 billion Kenvue shares for 191 million J&J shares last August.
Starboard’s interest in Kenvue comes after pitching a strategy shift over at Pfizer. The investor reportedly holds a stake in the drugmaker worth around $1 billion and was set to meet with CEO Albert Bourla, Ph.D., and lead independent director Shantanu Narayen on Oct. 16 in a meeting originally backed by former CEO Ian Read and former Chief Financial Officer Frank D’Amelio.
A few days before the meeting, Read and D’Amelio took back their endorsement in a public statement that Starboard, in its own statement, claimed was the result of threats from within the company. Starboard’s strategy pitch for Pfizer hasn’t been disclosed, but the investor reportedly believes that the company has been mismanaged in the wake of the pandemic, the Financial Times reported from people briefed on the fund’s thinking.
Before encircling Pfizer and Kenvue, Starboard went after Bristol Myers Squibb in 2019 after picking up shares in response to its Celgene buyout plans. Starboard, to no avail, argued against the merger, which closed later that year for $74 billion.