CINCINNATI -- Procter & Gamble Co. shares rose nearly 3 percent to $76.35 Thursday after activist investor Nelson Peltz said at New York media event that his ideas about reorganizing the company are “under very serious consideration” by P&G’s board.
P&G declined to comment on the remarks.
Peltz won a seat on P&G’s board by waging a proxy fight against the consumer-products giant in which he advocated dividing the company into three segments that “operate like standalone public companies.”
P&G rejected the idea as a first step toward a breakup of the company. But the idea never lost favor with some investors, as Peltz proved when he told The Street founder Jim Cramer Thursday that P&G could unlock value with a breakup.
“I’m hoping it doesn’t happen,” he added.
Peltz said his plan would increase accountability in a way that the company’s smaller rivals have already adopted.
“These big companies, they immediately fight disruption,” he explained. “They want to protect their turf. Well, what’s the wrong attitude. They have to embrace disruption. They have to disrupt themselves. Because if they don’t somebody else is going to.”
In an April earnings call, CEO David Taylor said the company continues to make "organizational changes" that increase accountability.
"While our plan is clearly showing evidence of progress in many areas, we have not yet tied it all together to delivery the industry-leading balanced growth and value creation we expect of ourselves," he added.
