Activist investor Corvex Management has taken a 7.8 percent stake in Signet Jewelers—and it’s complaining that the world’s largest jeweler’s shares are “undervalued.”
Corvex’s purchase of 6.2 million shares of Signet’s stock makes it Signet’s largest institutional shareholder.
In a Jan. 24 filing with the SEC disclosing the investment, Corvex managing partner Keith Meister said he believes the shares are “undervalued and are an attractive investment.”
Meister added that his fund had several “constructive” conversations with its board and management about strategies to increase shareholder value. Those strategies include “leveraging the issuer’s credit receivables, optimizing capital structure, accelerating M&A and/or return of capital to shareholders, utilizing [its] offshore corporate structure, and general corporate matters,” Meister said.
In a separate statement, Signet also called its conversations with Corvex “constructive.”
The company is “open to ideas,” Signet said, adding that the company is considering “value-optimizing strategies related to our receivables portfolio and our corporate structure.”
Corvex isn’t Signet’s only new shareholder of late: On Jan. 17, Morgan Stanley took a 5 percent stake in the company, representing 4 million shares. Its investment, however, is listed as “passive.”
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