(Crain's) — Activist investor Bill Ackman has taken an 11% stake in Fortune Brands Inc.
The stake would make Mr. Ackman, founder and trustee of New York-based hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management L.P., Fortune Brands' biggest shareholder.
The news followed a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this morning that included the news that Mr. Ackman took a 16.5% stake in Plano, Texas-based J. C. Penney Corp. Inc.
Best known for its Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark and Courvoisier alcohol brands, Deerfield-based Fortune Brands’ two other businesses are golf and home and security products. The company’s shares are up 7.7% to $56.03 after rising as high as $58.92 after the market opened Friday.
Mr. Ackman is known for buying undervalued stocks and pushing for board changes and seats to drive up share prices then selling his stake for a profit. Some of the changes he's pushed in the past have included divestitures of weaker divisions or spinning off more profitable ones. Among the companies he has invested in are Kraft Foods Inc., Target Corp., McDonald’s Corp., Citigroup Inc., Wendy’s International Inc. (now Wendy’s Arby’s Group Inc.), Yum Brands Inc., Dr Pepper/Snapple Group Inc. and Visa Inc.
Fortune Brands did not respond to requests for comment.
The news was first reported by CNBC.
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