Disney's (DIS) management team may have something in common with Snow White star Sleepy.
"They were caught by surprise," a person familiar with the matter told Yahoo Finance about Trian Fund Management Nelson Peltz's latest activist attack on the bumbling media conglomerate.
A source familiar with Disney's thinking refuted the notion.
With Disney shares plumbing fresh 52-week lows, billionaire Peltz is jumping back in the ring to duke it out with superstar CEO Bob Iger.
Peltz is seeking multiple board seats at Disney, including one for himself, the person familiar with the Trian CEO's thinking said. The Wall Street Journal first reported news of Peltz's move, which included boosting Trian's stake in Disney.
The window for board nominations begins on Dec. 5 and continues to Jan. 4. But the situation at Disney is so concerning that Peltz didn't see the need to wait until December, the person said.
Trian now has a stake believed to be valued at about $2.5 billion, making it one of Disney's largest investors.
No meeting between Peltz and Iger has been scheduled, according to the source.
Iger may have been caught off-guard by the return of frequent critic Peltz for one simple reason: Peltz pulled back his contentious campaign against the company in February.
At the time, Peltz said in a TV interview that "Disney plans to do everything we wanted them to do." Perhaps foreshadowing the latest move, Peltz added in the interview: "We will be watching."
Since then, however, it has been a comedy of errors at Disney (or a horror movie).
First, Disney's stock is down 26% since Peltz halted his campaign against Disney. The Dow Jones Industrial Average — of which Disney is a component — has fallen 2.4%.
Meanwhile, following sweeping layoffs at Disney enacted by Iger this year, investors remain on pins and needles for the next restructuring move.
Iger said in July he would take an "expansive" look at Disney's traditional TV assets, a signal to Wall Street that a sale of linear TV channels is in the cards amid growing cord-cutting by consumers.
No update from Disney has been provided since. Iger has said that he doesn't want to unload the ESPN brand.
Other fears include Disney potentially overpaying to buy out its stake in Hulu from Comcast — discussions between the two parties have reportedly begun.
The lack of information may well be unnerving investors.
"To hear a leader in the industry like Bob Iger acknowledge that you have to put everything on the table right now, I think shows how seriously they're taking this," Goldman Sachs media analyst Brett Feldman said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above).
"It's a real signal to the Street that they're going to do what they need to do so that Disney can have another hundred years of success," Feldman added.
Disney has not responded to Yahoo Finance's request for comment.
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
