Icahn Pulls Off More Coups in Manitowoc Company Inc (MTW) Split, Lands Seat on New Company’s Board

It was announced a little over a week ago that Manitowoc Company Inc (NYSE:MTW) would split into two core businesses, thanks in part to pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn and his hedge fund Icahn Capital LP, which owns 10.58 million shares of Manitowoc, 7.81% of all common shares. Now, it’s been revealed in a filing with the SEC this morning that Icahn has pulled off several other coups leading up to and following the split of the new company.

Carl Icahn is a world-renowned activist investor, who has been managing his New York-based hedge fund Icahn Capital LP since 1985. Icahn has amassed a personal fortune through his investing of over $26 billion, which unsurprisingly has led many investors to try and emulate his moves, a strategy we also advocate given his strong track record. With an equity portfolio of just over $33 billion as of September 30, Icahn holds major positions in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI), and eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), among other companies.

We reported on Icahn first taking his position in Manitowoc Company Inc (NYSE:MTW) back in December, and it wasn’t long before the pressure he exerted on the company alongside Ralph V. Whitworth’s Relational Investors caused them to announce a split of their crane and food service divisions into separate businesses.

Investors did not immediately react positively, and there was even some mild reproach for Icahn from journalists, including Moneybeat’s Maureen Farrell, who declared that his tried-and true tactics of pushing for splits of struggling companies was not always a cure-all for underlying problems in those businesses, and that investors were wise to that in this case. Among other recent moves, Icahn successfully pushed eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) to spin off its PayPal division, and has pushed for seats on the board of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) after that company pre-empted his anticipated push to split them, and announced it themselves. However Manitowoc Company Inc (NYSE:MTW) has made big gains since its dip immediately following the announced split, up 11.39% since its January 30 close.