Activist investor Ralph Whitworth has been quietly building a stake in equipment maker Ingersoll Rand, further adding to the pressure on the company to overhaul its business.
Whitworth, known for forcing change at Home Depot and Sovereign Bank, is expected to disclose in a regulatory filing today that he has amassed a nearly 4 percent stake in the $16 billion industrial conglomerate, The Post has learned.
Whitworth’s stake, valued at $606.3 million, makes him the second activist investor to eye Ingersoll. Nelson Peltz joined the board in August after complaining about the company’s profit margins and pressing Ingersoll to split into three separate businesses.
Ingersoll recently came to an agreement with Peltz, saving it from a major breakup, by promising to spin off smaller units and cut costs.
Whitworth — who prefers to push for corporate change behind the scenes before going public — is also concerned about Ingersoll’s profit margins as well as the “business mix,” sources said. He has met officials of the company to discuss his concerns, they added.
Whitworth declined to comment, but Ingersoll spokeswoman Misty Zelent told The Post, “Ralph Whitworth has not approached Ingersoll Rand with any concerns or recommendations.”
At the end of December, Whitworth held 11.4 million shares in Ingersoll, up from 4.8 million shares at the end of June, sources said.
Whitworth’s $5 billion hedge fund, Relational Investors, was granted confidentiality by the Securities and Exchange Commission to keep the position quiet until now, a source said.
In 2011, industrial conglomerate ITT split itself into three separate companies amid pressure from Whitworth, who had amassed a 3.9 percent stake in the company.