Trian Fund Management raises its stake in DuPont
A key overview of Peltz's Trian Fund’s filings (Part 2 of 9)
Trian Fund raises position in DuPont
Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management, L.P. raised its position in E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (or DuPont) (DD) during the fourth quarter of 2014. The fund’s latest filing showed an ownership of 24,313,084 shares in DuPont. This is up from 6,959,877 shares during 3Q14. The position accounts for 19.06% of the fund’s total 4Q portfolio and is currently its largest position.
Peltz accumulated a stake in DuPont more than a year ago and has since urged the chemical conglomerate to improve its financial performance. Market Realist reported in October last year that DuPont’s shares surged over reports that activist fund Trian intends to split up the multinational corporation. One of the initiatives suggested by Trian was to separate the company’s high-growth businesses from its cyclical ones.
Trian and its affiliated funds together own around 24.4 million DuPont shares valued at approximately $1.8 billion. The fund’s holdings account for about a 3% stake in DuPont.
Overview of DuPont
DuPont, based in Wilmington, Delaware, consists of 13 businesses that are aggregated into seven reportable segments. Its reportable segments are Agriculture, Electronics & Communications, Industrial Biosciences, Nutrition & Health, Performance Chemicals, Performance Materials, and Safety & Protection.
Here’s an overview of DuPont’s major segments and products:
Agriculture. Includes corn hybrids and soybean varieties, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides.
Electronics & Communications. Includes photopolymers and electronic materials.
Industrial Biosciences. Includes enzymes and bio-based materials.
Nutrition & Health. Includes cultures, emulsifiers, texturants, natural sweeteners, and soy-based food ingredients.
Performance Chemicals. Includes fluorochemicals, fluoropolymers, specialty and industrial chemicals, and white pigments.
Performance Materials. Includes engineering polymers, packaging and industrial polymers, films, and elastomers.
Safety & Protection. Includes nonwovens, aramids, and solid surfaces.
DuPont also has a pharmaceutical segment that represents the company’s interest in the collaboration relating to Cozzaar-Hyzaar antihypertensive drugs, which the company reports as other income.
DuPont and its chemical sector peers, Dow Chemical (DOW) and Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD), have been subject to shareholder activism. These companies are part of the iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF (IYM) and the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLB).
The next part of this series will highlight updates on Trian’s activism in relation to DuPont.
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