Trian Partners Sells Some Mondelez

Nelson Peltz's activist firm Trian Fund Management has filed a Form 4 with the SEC regarding its stake in Mondelez (MDLZ).  Per the filing, Trian sold over 6.52 million shares of MDLZ at $43.67 on February 27th. 

The filing notes that this sale was "made for portfolio management purposes, including in connection with the liquidation of a fund" that acquired shares prior to the end of 2012.  After this sale, the firm still owns 35.96 million shares.

Per Google Finance, Mondelez is "a snack company. The Company manufactures and markets snack food and beverage products for consumers. It operates through four segments: Latin America, Asia, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA), Europe and North America. As of December 31, 2016, its brands spanned five product categories: Biscuits (including cookies, crackers and salted snacks); Chocolate; Gum and candy; Beverages (including coffee and powdered beverages), and Cheese and grocery. Itsportfolio includes various snack brands, including Nabisco, Oreo, LU and belVita biscuits; Cadbury, Milka, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Toblerone chocolate; Trident gum; Halls candy, and Tang powdered beverages. The Company sells its products to supermarket chains, wholesalers, supercenters, club stores, mass merchandisers, distributors, convenience stores, gasoline stations, drug stores, value stores and retail food outlets. As of December 31, 2016, it sold its products to consumers in approximately 165 countries. "

Pershing Square Portfolio Update Presentation: Nike, S&P Global & More

Bill Ackman's activist firm Pershing Square recently made a presentation to investors about the current state of their portfolio and how they're re-tooling the organization after a few years of poor performance.  In 2017, Pershing was down 4%.

The presentation provides brief updates on all their holdings, including their new Nike (NKE) stake.


Pershing Square on New Nike Stake (NKE)

They bought Nike because it's "a high quality business that should compound long-term earnings at a high rate due to strong revenue growth and margin expansion."

They see it as an iconic brand with a dominant market position.  The company has assets via patents, a huge marketing budget, brand loyalty, manufacturing skill, and leverage with suppliers and customers.

Pershing thinks the company can continue to grow revenue in the high single digits.  They note positive secular trends of health/wellness and emerging market growth as key contributors, as well as pricing power.

The firm sees Nike expanding margins via new manufacturing processes and growth in distribution channels with "more favorable economics."


Ackman Bought & Sold S&P Global (SPGI)

The presentation also reveals that Pershing Square was buying shares of S&P Global (SPGI) during 2017 but sold the stake because they couldn't build a full position size as markets rose.

Their thesis was that "S&P is an annuity-like business with pricing power, strong secular growth and a margin opportunity."  It's a credit ratings and financial data services firm with the former comprising 55% of EBIT and the latter 45%.


Lastly, Pershing Square also bought an undisclosed position but sold that as well.  It's interesting that they aren't revealing the name.  Does this mean perhaps they might want to revisit it if the share price hits a level they're comfortable with? Who knows.

The presentation also includes updates on their stakes in: ADP, Chipotle, Howard Hughes, Mondelez,  Restaurant Brands, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, Platform Specialty Products, and their short of Herbalife (HLF).

Embedded below is Pershing Square's portfolio update presentation:



For more from this fund you can also read Pershing Square's Q3 letter.

Pershing Square Q3 Letter: Restructures Herbalife Short

Bill Ackman is out with Pershing Square's third quarter letter to investors.  Pershing Square returned -3.7% net in the third quarter and was down 4.2% for the year at that time.

Pershing has restructured its short position in Herbalife (HLF).  Rather than shorting common stock, they've covered that and are now short via put options.

Ackman is also quite bullish on Mondelez (MDLZ): "We believe MDLZ is currently substantially undervalued given its high business quality, long-term secular growth potential - especially in emerging markets - and substantial opportunity to improve profit margins.  Today, Mondelez trades at 17 times our estimate for 2018 earnings per share, a discount to the S&P 500 market multiple, for a business whose attributes are substantially better than the average company in the S&P 500."

The letter also provides updates on their holdings: Restaurant Brands (QSR), ADP (ADP), Howard Hughes (HHC), Chipotle (CMG), Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac, Platform Specialty Products (PAH).

Embedded below is Pershing Square's Q3 letter:



For more recent hedge fund commentary, we've also posted up Third Point's Q3 letter as well as Greenlight Capital's Q3 letter.

Pershing Square Q2 Letter: Sold Undisclosed Hilton Stake

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square has put out its mid-year report which includes commentary on their investments.  They also disclose that they previously owned a stake in Hilton (HLT) but recently sold it after the spin-offs took place.

In the letter, they also write about their latest investment, Automatic Data Processing (ADP):

"ADP is a classic Pershing Square investment. It is a simple, predictable, free-cash-flow generative business that has under performed its potential. As a conservatively financed, capital-light business with long-term customer relationships in a sector with substantial positive growth, we believe it has modest downside. If it is able to achieve its potential, we believe it offers substantial upside. We acquired ADP for the funds along with a co-investment vehicle (PSVI) which we recently raised to increase our ownership of the company.  We believe that ADP is one of the highest quality businesses we have owned, and one which offers an enormous opportunity for operational improvement.

They also provide an update on their stake in Chipotle (CMG), noting that the company has battled another setback with a norovirus incident in Virginia.  That said, Pershing feels that the company is still on the right track.  They write,

"We made our investment in Chipotle anticipating that the sales recovery would be neither smooth nor predictable,but with a belief that the key drivers of Chipotle’s powerful economic moat and long-term success would remain intact. With the steps that the company has taken to improve its business, we continue to believe there is an enormous long-term growth opportunity for Chipotle given: (1) the significant potential to drive sales per restaurant higher through mobile and digital ordering, menu innovation, catering, and improved operations, (2) the opportunity to expand its vastly under penetrated restaurant base in the U.S., and (3) the considerable potential to build the brand internationally."

Their letter also touches on Mondelez (MDLZ), Howard Hughes (HHC), Air Products (APD), Restaurant Brands (QSR), Platform Specialty Products (PAH), Nomad Foods (NOMD), and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, as well its short position: Herbalife (HLF).


Embedded below is Pershing Square's Q2 letter:



You can download a .pdf copy here.

Pershing Square's Q1 Letter

Bill Ackman is out with Pershing Square's first quarter 2017 letter.  Pershing returned -2.6% net in the first quarter of the year.

We've already highlighted how Ackman pitched Howard Hughes at the recent Sohn conference. 

His Q1 letter provides updates on other stocks such as Mondelez (MDLZ), Air Products (APD), Restaurant Brands (QSR), Chipotle (CMG), Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, as well as Platform Specialty Products (PAH), Nomad Foods (NOMD), and their short of Herbalife (HLF).



Embedded below is Pershing Square's Q1 letter:



You can download a .pdf copy here.

Pershing Square's 2016 Annual Report: VRX, APD, FNMA, HLF, HHC, MDLZ, NOMD, PAH, QSR

Bill Ackman's hedge fund firm Pershing Square Capital Management is out with its 2016 annual report.

Pershing Square lost 13.5% net in 2016.  The bulk of this loss was attributed to its previous position in Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX).

Ackman writes about why they ended up selling VRX:

"If the stock price had increased even very substantially from here, the impact on our overall performance would have been modest, and would not compensate  us for the human resources and substantial mindshare that this investment had and would have continued to consume  if we had remained a shareholder.  Furthermore, while Valeant has made significant progress and we expect  management to continue to do so, there is still a lot of work to be done.  

Clearly, our investment in Valeant was a huge mistake.  Th e highly acquisitive nature of Valeant’s business required  flawless capital allocation and operational execution, and th erefore, a larger than no rmal degree of reliance on  management.  In retrospect, we misjudged the prior management team and this contributed to our loss.  We deeply  regret this mistake, which has cost  all of us a tremendous amount, and whic h has damaged the record of success of  our firm." 

Despite the poor 2016, Pershing points out that they've generated a compound annual return of 14.8% compared to S&P returns of 7.7% over the same time period.

The report also details portfolio updates on numerous positions, including: Air Products & Chemicals (APD), Fannie Mae (FNMA) / Freddie Mac (FMCC), their short of Herbalife (HLF), Howard Hughes (HHC), Mondelez (MDLZ), Nomad Foods (NOMD), Platform Specialty Products (PAH), and Restaurant Brands (QSR).

They also touch on some of the positions they've exited.

Embedded below is Pershing Square's 2016 annual report:



You can download a .pdf copy here.

Trian Fund Management Sells Some Mondelez

Nelson Peltz's activist firm Trian Fund Management has filed a Form 4 with the SEC regarding its stake in Mondelez (MDLZ). 

Per the filing, Trian sold 3.8 million MDLZ shares on November 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at prices ranging from $43.29 to $45.22.  After these transactions, Trian still owns 44.21 million shares of Mondelez.

If you missed it, we also posted a recent interview with Nelson Peltz who isn't as cautious as others about the market.

Per Google Finance, Mondelez is "a snack company. The Company manufactures and markets snack food and beverage products for consumers in approximately 165 countries around the world. The Company operates through five segments: Latin America; Asia Pacific; Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA); Europe, and North America. Its portfolio includes over seven brands, including Nabisco, Oreo and LU biscuits; Cadbury, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka chocolates, and Trident gum, as well as over 50 brands. The Company's brands span five product categories: biscuits (including cookies, crackers and salted snacks); chocolate; gum and candy; beverages (including coffee and powdered beverages), and cheese and grocery. The Company's other brands include Oreo, Chips Ahoy!, Ritz, TUC/Club Social and belVita biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Lacta chocolate; Trident gum; Hall's candy, and Tang powdered beverages."

Pershing Square's Latest Presentation on Their Holdings

Bill Ackman's hedge fund firm Pershing Square Capital Management recently released its slideshow presentation from its European Investing Meeting.

In it, they update the status/progress of their investments with numerous slides on each name regarding their thesis and how it's playing out. 

The investments profiled include: Mondelez (MDLZ), Air Products (APD), Zoetis (ZTS), Restaurant Brands (QSR), Canadian Pacific (CP), Howard Hughes (HHC), Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX), Platform Specialty Products (PAH), Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, Nomad Foods (NOMD), and their short of Herbalife (HLF).

Embedded below is Pershing's latest presentation:



You can download a .pdf copy here.

Pershing Square Trims Mondelez Stake

Bill Ackman's hedge fund firm Pershing Square Capital has filed an amended 13D with the SEC regarding its stake in Mondelez (MDLZ).  It seems that Pershing sold around 20 million shares. 

After these transactions, Pershing now owns 5.6% of the company with over 88.1 million shares.  This is broken down into 22.9 million shares of common stock and 65.25 million shares worth of exposure via call options.  Pershing listed all of their separate transactions in a filing here.

As to the reason for the sales, the filing notes that, "The Reporting Persons reduced their stake in the Issuer because the stake had become an outsized position of their portfolio in light of its initially large size and its outperformance relative to other holdings. The Reporting Persons are reducing the position size for portfolio management purposes only."

It is of course worth noting that Pershing is currently facing a big loss thus far this year, mainly due to its Valeant Pharmaceutical (VRX) position. 

The Wall Street Journal notes that Pershing was down 26% for the year and that "Ackman told investors Wednesday that the Mondelez sale would leave Pershing with 'substantial uninvested cash'  ... and assured investors that he had no immediate plans to sell other assets."

Pershing Square Semi Annual Report: Mondelez, Nomad Foods & More

Bill Ackman's hedge fund firm Pershing Square is out with its semi-annual report and second quarter letter.  Year to date through July 2015, Pershing Square Holdings was up 10.1% net.  This obviously doesn't include the volatility in August and they note they were down for the year as of recent activity, but still outperforming the indices.


Pershing's Thesis on Mondelez

Ackman's letter provides an update on their new position in Mondelez (MDLZ), writing

"We believe that now is an attractive time to invest in Mondelez because its profit margins are just beginning to expand after several years of limited improvement.  In addition, we believe that 3G Capital, through its ownership of Hertz, and now Kraft, has established new benchmarks for operational efficiency, organizational design and management alignment which have allowed 3G companies to be more profitable, nimbler, and better positioned to grow over the long-term.  We believe that 3G's higher standards for operating performance will catalyze a competitive response in the packaged foods industry, leading to greater operating margins and profitability for Mondelez and other companies in the industry."


Pershing's New Position in Nomad Foods

The firm also talked about their new purchase of Nomad Foods (NHL).  They purchased $350 million in a private placement of Nomad's common stock during its acquisition of Iglo Group in June, giving them a 22% ownership stake. 

Nomad is a specialty purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by Martin Franklin and Noam Gottesman.  Pershing has worked with Martin before in a previous SPAC (Justice Holdings) that then became Burger King (now known as Restaurant Brands).

The thesis here is a consolidation play as they believe Iglo is a platform investment to then acquire more of the packaged food industry.

Pershing writes,

"Iglo is the leading branded frozen food business in Europe with euro 1.5 billion in sales. It is a stable, high margin (20% EBITDA margin), free-cash-flow-generative business.  It has a leading share in European frozen foods at 2.2 times the size of the next largest competitor, with strong brand equity.  Historical growth in the business has been flat, but management sees opportunity for organic growth by expanding the company's great brand names into adjacent frozen food categories."


In its letter, Pershing also provides updates on Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX), Air Products and Chemicals (APD), Canadian Pacific (CP), Zoetis (ZTS), Restaurant Brands (QSR), their short of Herbalife (HLF), Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac (FMCC), and.


Embedded below is Pershing Square's semi-annual report / Q2 letter:



You can download a .pdf copy here.

For more on this firm, head to Bill Ackman's presentation at the Delivering Alpha conference.

What We're Reading ~ 8/12/15

Avoiding process drift [A Wealth of Common Sense]

GOOG: Do you trust Larry Page? [Stratechery]

Giving Google room to dream big [NYTimes]

Pichai tapped to run restructured Google within Alphabet [Bloomberg]

Inside SoftBank's struggle to turn around Sprint [WSJ]

A short seller's new target: Canadian housing [Globe and Mail]

Quick pitch on Nationstar (NSM) [Oozing Alpha]

A look at Mondelez [Brooklyn Investor]

And another Mondelez analysis [Elevation Capital]

How baseball's tech team built the future of television [TheVerge]

Ad woes pummel TV firms [WSJ]

Why Disney and ESPN will be OK [Stratechery]

Alan Greenspan sees pending bond market bubble [Bloomberg]

Investors find ways to indirectly profit from start-ups [NYTimes]

IACI: Tinder and the dawn of the dating apocalypse [Vanity Fair]

Why streaming services are so secretive [Bloomberg View]

A profile of Exor's John Elkann [NYTimes]

The power of admitting your own errors [WSJ]

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Takes Mondelez Stake

Bill Ackman's activist hedge fund Pershing Square Capital has filed a 13D with the SEC regarding shares of Mondelez (MDLZ).  Per the filing, Pershing Square owns 7.5% of Mondelez with over 120.26 million shares.  This is a newly disclosed position.

The filing indicates they sold puts and bought call options in late June and early July and they also bought common stock.

It also says that as of August 6th, Pershing own over 64.8 million over the counter forward purchase contracts with a net purchase price of over $2.5 billion with Nomura as a counterparty. There's quite a few transactions and you can view them here.

The 13D also contains the normal activist boilerplate that they intend to engage with management.

Mondelez was spun-off from the original Kraft entity and represents more of the 'snacks and sweets' business.

The standalone Kraft Foods, on the other hand, is mainly their branded foods consumer staples company.  KRFT merged with Heinz recently under the guidance of 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway.  So now you have activists at both of the entities.

For more on Pershing Square, head to Bill Ackman's comments at the recent Delivering Alpha conference.

Nelson Peltz's Presentation on Mondelez at Invest For Kids Chicago

Next up in our notes from Invest For Kids Chicago 2013 is Nelson Peltz of Trian Fund Management.  He talked about his position in Mondelez (MDLZ).


Nelson Peltz's Presentation at Invest For Kids Chicago

•    Will talk about a Chicago company – Mondelez
•    Highlight why they own it and what the ability to drive value is
•    Like companies that cannot get disrupted and there is nothing more basic than packaged food
•    Cash growing
•    Like low private label exposure and global growth
•    Confectionary and snack
•    Private level and revenue growth are the two largest problems packaged food companies
•    Profit could rise more than 50% and EPS could double
•    Benefit of the split was creating a structure that would allow them to win
•    “Complexity lowers margins while simplicity raises margins”
•    New Kraft has 300 to 400 bps of better margin by removing layers of inefficient management
•    Mondelez is starting from lower base and can do even better
•    Exceptional emerging markets exposure – perhaps impossible to replicate
•    Most CPGs can’t figure out how to orient their products to local tastes & preferences
•    40% revenue from emerging markets
•    It has the brands, distribution, and consumers
•    Think margins could go from 12% to 18% based on peer comps by percentage of sales (lot of confectionary)
•    Working capital is a problem for Trian
•    Every target management has presented has been missed and missed large
•    EBIT margins are down over the last 6 months
•    2015 margins are 300 basis points too low
•    Margins and sales can both rise as proven by Gillette from 2001 to 2004, Hershey from 2008 to 2012 and many others…
•    Base case upside of 67%
•    Low case upside of 44%
•    Upside case upside of 93%
•    Trian has been in communication with Mondelez since July 2013 but communications not very constructive
•    Constantly evaluating all options

If you missed it in the past, we've posted up Trian's white paper on Pepsi & Mondelez.


Check out the rest of the hedge fund presentations from Invest For Kids Chicago here.

Trian Partners' PepsiCo White Paper: Nelson Peltz's PEP Thesis

Nelson Peltz's hedge fund firm Trian Partners today released a white paper on PepsiCo (PEP).  The activist investor owns $1.3 billion worth of shares and presented their thesis on PEP in a slideshow.

Trian argues that PepsiCo (PEP) is at a strategic crossroads and they've outlined 2 strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value at the company.


Option A:  Merge PepsiCo With Mondelez

Merge PEP with Mondelex (MDLZ), creating a global snacks company.  This tie-up could lead to $175 of implied value per PEP share and approximately $72 of implied value per MDLZ share by the end of 2015.  It's also worth pointing out that Trian Partners owns a stake in MDLZ as well.


Option B: Split-Up PepsiCo 

If PEP doesn't pursue MDLZ, they argue the company should separate the snacks and beverages segments.  Under this scenario, they see $136 to $144 of implied value per PEP share by the end of 2015.


Embedded below is the full .pdf of Trian Partners' white paper and Nelson Peltz's analysis of PepsiCo:




You can download a .pdf copy here.

For more on these companies, don't miss Nelson Peltz's thoughts on PEP/MDLZ from the Delivering Alpha Conference today.

Nelson Peltz on PepsiCo, Mondelez & DuPont: Delivering Alpha Conference

Trian Partners' Nelson Peltz sat down at the Delivering Alpha Conference today and talked about PepsiCo (PEP), Mondelez (MDLZ) and Andrew Ross Sorkin revealed that Peltz has been building a position in DuPont (DD).

Back in April, we highlighted how Peltz took stakes in both PEP & MDLZ.  At the event today, he laid out two scenarios for PEP which he thinks the company should pursue:


On PepsiCo and Mondelez

1. PEP should buy Mondelez (MDLZ) for $35-38 per share.  MDLZ is part of the split from the old Kraft that broke up into Mondelez and Kraft Foods (KRFT).  MDLZ is seen as the fast growing snacks business (Cadbury etc).

The problem with MDLZ he says is operational.  He loves that the CEO made important strategic moves (splitting up the old Kraft entity), but notes that management really needs to boost margins to catch up with direct competitors.


2. Separate Pepsi's beverage side from its snacks business (FritoLay).  Peltz says that these businesses have dis-synergies and they would benefit from a split.  He says Pepsi's beverage side can go to a cashflow generating company run with appropriate leverage.

Then, Peltz noted that the FritoLay snacks business can flourish on its own and even possibly pursue an acquisition of MDLZ after a potential PEP break up since they're both in the snacks business.

Peltz did acknowledge the secular trend of consumers focusing more on healthy items.  He thinks this is more-so focused on sugary drinks, but does note that sweet/salty snacks could be vulnerable as well.


Peltz's New Stake in DuPont?

Andrew Ross Sorkin also said that sources are pointing to Peltz acquiring a stake in DuPont (DD).  Peltz wouldn't really add any color when asked about it (pun intended).

Embedded below is video of Peltz's interview:



For more on this investor, we've highlighted some of Peltz's trading activity here.


And for more summary of the Delivering Alpha Conference, head to:

- John Paulson on gold, real estate & merger arbitrage

- Best Ideas Panel with Mark Kingdon, Chris Hohn, Jim Chanos & Lee Cooperman

- Larry Robbins on healthcare

- Carl Icahn on activism

Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management Discloses Mondelez & PepsiCo Stakes

Nelson Peltz's investment firm Trian Fund Management today filed an amended 13F filing with the SEC for the fourth quarter of 2012.  This filing, detailing positions as of December 31st, 2012 now shows that Trian had positions in Mondelez International (MDLZ) and PepsiCo (PEP) at the end of the year.

According to the filing, Trian's position in MDLZ totaled 19,415,193 shares at the time.  Their stake in PEP consisted of 3,932,663 shares.


Mondelez (MDLZ) Stake

It is extremely likely that this is not a new position for Trian and here's why:  Mondelez is a product of the Kraft split up into Kraft Foods (KRFT) and MDLZ in Q4.  Peltz's firm had been an owner of the old Kraft entity (old ticker KFT) back in the third quarter of 2012 per their 13F from that quarter.  KFT split up into KRFT and MDLZ on October 1st, 2012.

Trian's original 13F filing from the end of December did not show a stake in either entity, so many assumed that Trian had sold completely out of anything Kraft related in the fourth quarter.  However, their 13F also indicated that "confidential information has been omitted" from the filing and was filed separately with the SEC.

Fast forward to today when they file an amended 13F and all of a sudden a stake in Mondelez shows up again.  It then becomes clear that MDLZ (as well as PEP) were the confidential positions.  

As such, Trian most likely never sold MDLZ after they received shares from the Kraft spin-off and we assume they just didn't disclose the stake in their public 13F, but filed the position separately with the SEC.  While there's a chance they could have just bought shares in the open market post-spin, that seems less likely given their past ownership of the old Kraft entity pre-spin.

This week, we also highlighted that Bill Ackman's Pershing Square also filed an amended 13F from Q4 and also revealed a Mondelez position.  Also, hedge fund Scout Capital reported a large MDLZ stake at that time as well.


New PepsiCo (PEP) Stake: Seeking to Merge Companies?

Trian's position in Pepsi, on the other hand, is a brand new stake as they previously did not own any shares.  The Daily Telegraph has speculated that Peltz might potentially have plans to attempt to merge the two companies together.

At the same time, the piece mentions that Peltz could pursue activism with PepsiCo alone, potentially pushing them to split-up just like the old Kraft entity did. 

At the time the Telegraph piece was originally published, it was rumored that Trian had taken stakes in the companies.  And today, we get confirmation of those rumors via SEC filing.  We'll have to wait and see if Peltz has any activist tricks up his sleeve.

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Discloses Mondelez Position

Bill Ackman's hedge fund firm Pershing Square Capital Management just filed an amended 13F with the SEC regarding their portfolio as of the end of 2012.  In it, they add a new holding entry: Mondelez International (MDLZ). 

As of December 31st, Pershing Square reports owning 5,978,214 shares.  This is a small position (worth around $179 million) compared to the rest of Pershing's portfolio, but is still worth mentioning as it's a new disclosure.

Last year, Kraft (former ticker KFT) split up into Kraft Foods (new ticker KRFT) and Mondelez International (new ticker MDLZ).  KRFT houses Kraft's North American grocery business and is seen as a steady cashflow generating, dividend income-type stock.  MDLZ, on the other hand, is seen as the growth engine, housing the snacks business with international exposure.

Pershing Square has not disclosed a position in KRFT and only has revealed their stake in the post-split shares of MDLZ.


Ackman Owned Kraft in the Past

This will not be the first time Ackman's hedge fund has had exposure to a Kraft entity.  In fact, he even published a presentation on Kraft back in 2010.  Interestingly, Pershing Square owned Kraft shares before the split but sold their entire stake in the former Kraft entity in the second quarter of 2012.   Ackman dumped shares sometime between March 30th and June 30th.

What's unclear, however, is if Ackman re-bought into the old Kraft entity before the split and received his MDLZ shares that way, or if he simply bought shares in the open market after the split was complete.  Regardless, he owned MDLZ shares at the end of 2012 and has just now revealed this via an amended 13F filing.


Other Hedge Funds That Own Mondelez

After the Kraft split, we've seen some hedge funds take large positions in the emerging markets-focused snack maker.  At the end of 2012, James Crichton and Adam Weiss's hedge fund Scout Capital was one of the largest institutional owners of MDLZ with over 27.5 million shares.  This was their largest position at the time, though there's no way to know if it still is.

Additionally, Nelson Peltz's firm Trian Fund Management has reportedly taken a stake in Mondelez (as well as PepsiCo) on speculation that he was possibly trying to merge the two entities together.  The Daily Telegraph reported that Peltz had spent $2 billion on shares of both companies.

However, it is definitely worth mentioning that back in the fourth quarter of 2012, Peltz's investment vehicle had sold completely out of its stake in MDLZ (as they did not disclose a position in their Q4 13F filing).  So while Peltz could have reversed course since then, he did not report ownership of a MDLZ stake as of December 31st.


About Mondelez

Per Google Finance, Mondelez is "is a maker of chocolate, biscuits, gum, candy, coffee and powdered beverages. The Company consists of the global snacking and food brands. Mondelez International's portfolio includes several brands, such as Cadbury and Milka chocolate, Jacobs coffee, LU, Nabisco and Oreo biscuits, Tang powdered beverages and Trident gums. The Company’s products include chocolates, cookies, gums, beverages and crackers. Alpen Gold is a chocolate brand in Russia. Alpen Gold is available in chocolate bars, boxed chocolates and creamy, mouth-watering pralines. Its markets include Poland, Russia and Ukraine. Bubbaloo is a gum brand sold in more than 25 countries and three different continents, including India, Mexico, Portugal and Spain. Belvita are breakfast biscuits made with wholegrain, cereals and fiber. It is sold in Belgium, France, Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States."

For more on Pershing Square, head to our coverage of Bill Ackman's other positions.