Activists Are Ganging Up On United Technologies (UTX), Energen (EGN), and Newell Brands (NWL)

Energen Corporation (NYSE:EGN)

Carl Icahn of Icahn Capital is the latest activist to throw his hat into the Energen Corporation (NYSE:EGN) ring, joining protege Keith Meister of Corvex Capital and Paul Singer‘s Elliott Management as activists with an eye on seeing the company sold. Meister has been engaged in that battle for over a year and won two board seats in March (one of which was awarded to a former Icahn Capital managing director) while the company continues to undergo a strategic review.

On Monday, a filing revealed that Icahn Capital will purchase 2 million of Corvex’s 10.46 million shares, with an option to buy an additional 2 million shares, signaling that the famed activist could be interested in purchasing the company alongside Corvex (which has stated a desire to do so), though Icahn has stated that he doesn’t believe he is the right buyer for the company, given the lack of synergies that could be exploited. At the least, his looming presence could put more pressure on Energen Corporation (NYSE:EGN) to consider a sale as it conducts its review.

Newell Brands Inc. (NYSE:NWL)

Icahn is also involved with Newell Brands Inc. (NYSE:NWL) alongside Jeffrey Smith‘s Starboard Value, one of the most successful activist funds of the past decade. Starboard took a $473 million position (18.58 million shares) in Newell in the first-quarter and immediately launched a proxy contest to have the company’s CEO and entire board removed. That put it squarely against Icahn initially, as four of those board sits were given to Icahn in March.

However, Icahn agreed to give up two of those seats last month in a major board shuffle that included three nominees of Starboard’s being added to the board. Icahn believes the interests of the two funds are aligned with regards to Newell, which is why it made more sense for them to work together than to engage in a costly proxy contest.

Starboard released a detail presentation on Newell at the beginning of May in which it expressed that first and foremost, the company’s operational performance needed improvement. While Newell has often blamed its recent underwhelming results on a tough macro environment, Starboard believes that is not the case at all, pointing to the revenue growth and higher margins that Newell’s peers have enjoyed, while Newell’s own results have deteriorated since its acquisition of Jarden. Starboard took aim at the company’s highly inefficient R&D process, bloated expenses, and the lack of effective communication between its different divisions as just some of the reasons for Newell’s lagging results.

Disclosure: None