Spinoff Spotlight

Article Excerpt

CAMPBELL SOUP CO. $40 (New York symbol CPB; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 300.7 million; Market cap: $12.0 billion; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; Dividend yield: 3.5%; www.campbellsoupcompany.com) makes a variety of food products under the brands Campbell’s Soup, Pepperidge Farm, V8, Bolthouse Foods and others. Activist investor Daniel Loeb, through his Third Point hedge fund, has teamed up with George Strawbridge Jr., the grandson of Campbell’s founder John Dorrance. Together, they control 8.4% of the stock. Third Point now wants to place five of its nominees on Campbell’s 12-member board of directors. That would help it pressure the company to either sell itself or spin off some of its businesses. Meantime, after a recent strategic review of its operations, Campbell now plans to sell its international and refrigerated-foods businesses. The proceeds will help it cover the $6.1 billion it paid for snack-food maker Snyder’s-Lance in March 2018. The company has expanded its savings goal in the wake of the Snyder’s-Lance purchase. Combined with an ongoing restructuring plan, Campbell…