Activist investor Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio) has purchased more than 3.9 million shares of Lamb Weston (LW, Financial), representing approximately 2.74% of the total share outstanding of Lamb Weston, on October 11 at $71.35 per share. The share is currently traded at $78.22 or up 9.63% from the purchasing price.
Shortly after the acquisition, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, Jana plans to make changes to LW's board of directors. The firm intends to bring back Lamb Weston's former executive chairman, Timothy McLevish, to the board.
Additionally, Jana is considering adding Joseph Scalzo, former CEO of Simply Good Foods; Diane Dietz, former chief marketing officer of Safeway; Brad Alford, former CEO of Nestlé USA; and John Gainor, former CEO of International Dairy Queen to the board.
Previously LW had planned to make some improvement and efficiencies, including cost-cutting measures and closing its manufacture in Connell, Washington; and reduce several production lines in North America as well as lay off 4% of its workers worldwide. These changes are expected to generate $55 million in pre-tax cost savings and reduce working capital in fiscal 2025.
The GF Score for this french-fry maker is 81 out of 100 indicating good outperformance potential:
Lamb Weston is seen to be profitable with good growth but has modest financial strength. With intervention from Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio), the market expects better prospect for Lamb Weston.
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